Cindy Clayton used to bring Bonnie, her prizewinning five-year-old border collie mix, to Willard Wheatley Primary School to teach children how to care for animals.
“I took her to school to teach proper pet care to kindergartners and to expose children to a gentle dog — a dog who was comfortable in any situation, who was always calm,” said Ms. Clayton, who is also the director of the Tamarind Club hotel and restaurant in Josiahs Bay.
“Bonnie was a companion who was always by my side,” she said of the dog who had won Best Large Mixed Breed at the BVI Humane Society’s annual dog show.
But last Thursday morning, Bonnie, along with Ms. Clayton’s eight-year-old mixed-breed, Molly, ingested a mixture of ground meat and a white powder believed to contain strychnine, which had been left on the Tamarind Club grounds, she said. Within half an hour, both dogs were dead.
Ms. Clayton said she’s heard about other dogs poisoned around Tortola in recent weeks: in Nanny Cay, in Port Purcell and in Cane Garden Bay, as well as others in Josiahs Bay, including some poisoned in their own kennel.
Chief Inspector St. Clair Amory, of the East End Police Station, said police are investigating the matter.
See the Oct. 13, 2011 edition for full coverage.