Kimberley RCMP are investigating the death of one dog in the Kimberley area and encourages owners to reach out to police if their dogs may be connected to recently reported poisonings in the area.
Numerous social media posts over the past week have made both the Kimberley and Cranbrook community aware of the reported poisonings.
RCMP confirmed that the reported incidents over social media occurred after the dog’s owners hiked up on the Butte in Wycliffe.
“A woman contacted police to advise that about two weeks prior to the social media posts she had been hiking the Butte with her dog,” said Kimberley RCMP. “The dog did get quite sick after the hike but did recover.”
Police said they received third party information that a second dog had similar symptoms as the first dog but did recover.
“On March 10th an owner reported to the RCMP, that their dog had died on March 2nd, after they had been hiking the Butte,” added police. “In consultation with the vet, police learned blood tests had been done and there was no indication of toxins. The stomach contents have been preserved for further analysis.”
RCMP noted from the veterinary clinic, that the “cause of death cannot be positively determined” as there could have been other medical conditions which exhibit similar symptoms.
“The symptoms shown by the two dogs that got sick were vastly different than the one who died,” said RCMP. “At this stage police are not able to link the two incidents.”
Kimberley RCMP implore that any owners who may suspect their dog was poisoned or fell ill after hikes in Wycliffe to report the incidents to their detachment at 250-427-4811.