Dog Ate Rat Poison at Holiday Let

somethingcorporate

Brilliant news and the absolute right outcome.

Well done, no doubt your sensible approach resulted in the favourable outcome.

shaun_from_Africa

It might be a good idea to leave a factual review on sites such as tripadvisor stating what happened.
This doesn't have to be anything nasty, simply a warning to future guests that if they have young children or animals then it might be a good idea to have a good look around before leaving them unattended.

The owner may well have collected or secured the poision stations, but if they haven't then a warning to others might prevent a similar or worse repeat of what you went through.

warehouse

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

It might be a good idea to leave a factual review on sites such as tripadvisor stating what happened.
This doesn't have to be anything nasty, simply a warning to future guests that if they have young children or animals then it might be a good idea to have a good look around before leaving them unattended.

The owner may well have collected or secured the poision stations, but if they haven't then a warning to others might prevent a similar or worse repeat of what you went through.

So kick her while she's down? Far better to say nothing on trip advisor knowing the cottage owner has learnt a valuable lesson.

OP glad you got a good resolution and thanks for the update.

shaun_from_Africa

warehouse wrote: »

So kick her while she's down? Far better to say nothing on trip advisor knowing the cottage owner has learnt a valuable lesson..

You do know the purpose of sites such as Tripadvisor dont you?
They are there for leaving factal reports and personal opinions of accomodation (amongst other things) and how is telling the truth kicking someone while they are down?

You are only assuming that the owner learnt a valuable lesson. They might well have decided that in order to control a rodent problem it's easier to simply leave the poison where it is and if previous guests were like you, they may have had the same problem but not warned others about it.

KittyBandit

Please leave a comment on trip advisor. Parents (and dog owners) need to be aware this happened otherwise it could happen to a child and have a far worse outcome... If knowing about it will prevent someone getting harmed, then it needs to be done... I dont think she would have learnt a lesson, she paid the money to make it go away.. there was never any action taken and she was in breach of health and safety... Please leave a comment!

George_Michael

warehouse wrote: »

So kick her while she's down? Far better to say nothing on trip advisor knowing the cottage owner has learnt a valuable lesson.

I would have agreed with this if the cottage owner had admitted that they had erred and had been willing to pay for the vet's treatment of the dog without being forced, but this wasn't the case.

They denied responsibility and tried to use the threat of going to a solicitor in order to get the OP to back down.
It was only when presented with HSE documentation showing that they did not take the correct care with the poison that they finally paid up.

IMO, these are not the actions of someone who has learnt a "valuable lesson", nor are they the actions of a responsible holiday home owner.

Kefi

This is shocking and negligent. A child could quite easily have found the interesting pile of poison, or taken an interest in the box touched the contents and ingested it. This is not a 'nanny State' type situation. This stuff is fatal. I certainly would expect the vet fees to be paid. The owner should be relieved that things weren't worse.

Bowling_4_Gold

Kefi wrote: »

This is shocking and negligent. A child could quite easily have found the interesting pile of poison, or taken an interest in the box touched the contents and ingested it. This is not a 'nanny State' type situation. This stuff is fatal. I certainly would expect the vet fees to be paid. The owner should be relieved that things weren't worse.

Although I agree the right outcome has been reached here, I often see rat poison and baits laid out in public. Should councils therefore remove all pest control measures from the street incase somebody's dog finds it interesting?

JReacher1

Bowling_4_Gold wrote: »

Although I agree the right outcome has been reached here, I often see rat poison and baits laid out in public. Should councils therefore remove all pest control measures from the street incase somebody's dog finds it interesting?

Where do you live that the council puts rat poison out on the street? Do these poison traps not kill hundreds of cats?

shaun_from_Africa

Having rodent poison in a public place and in privately owned "dog friendly" accomodation are two entirely different scenarios.

When this poison is put down in a public area, it must be in a bait trap which if possible, should be of such a design that it is extremely difficult for a child or pet to get to the poison.
Another point is that when you have any dog in public, the law requires that that dog is kept under control and the government state that:

A dog is considered ‘under control’ if it is on a lead held by someone able to control the dog. For example, a large dog would not be under control if its lead was held by a child who would be unable to restrain the dog if it strained against the lead.
It isn't necessary for dogs to be leashed at all times. However, dogs must be kept on a lead in designated pedestrian zones

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/controlling-your-dog-in-public

If a dog was able to get to the poison when in public, it could rightfully be argued that for that to have happened, the animal wasn't being kept under the control.