‘You’ve Broken Us All’: One-Year-Old Chow Chow Milo Dies From Alleged Poisoning At Marsaskala Dog Park
Milo, a chow chow dog aged one year, and two months died after allegedly ingesting what is believed to be snail poison at a dog park in Wied il-Għajn, Marsaskala.
“All I know is that his organs burst, and no one could help him,” his owner Graziana Gerada said, referring to the professionals at the Animal Hospital.
“When we asked what caused this sudden death, they told us that the symptoms pointed to snail poison ingestion, especially since Milo was a mere one year and two-month-old dog who had no prior medical issues whatsoever,” she continued.
Graziana wrote a heartfelt post on Facebook, addressing the person who left the poison at the dog park, telling them that while she “does not wish them any ill-will,” she wants them to know the repercussions of their “cruel actions”.
“Because of you, my dog suffered for 12 hours, until his organs burst. You have broken a woman both physically and mentally. Because of Milo, I did not need any anxiety medications. Because of your heinous actions, I am now in a worst state than I ever was before.”
She also detailed how her boyfriend is “too broken to go to work” and how her son’s heart shattered when he “witnessed his lifeless dog on a stretcher” and has to now “witness his mother in such a distraught state”.
“You have broken my other two dogs, who keep waiting for Milo, not knowing what happened to him,” she wrote, addressing the individual who poisoned her dog.
Graziana, who is set to get married in 2025, admitted that because of the loss of Milo, her “wedding can never be the same”.
Lovin Malta reached out to Graziana who gave us the horrifying details of what went down.
It all kicked off on the 28th December, when at around 4pm Graziana took two of her three chow chow dogs to their usual playing spot – the Marsaskala dog park.
As soon as they arrived, Graziana let her dogs off their leash as her son went to empty the communal water bowl which is pre-set at the dog park for the dogs at the area to drink.
“He filled it up with fresh water since we had heard stories before of people poisoning the water in a malicious attempt to target the dogs at the park,” the owner told Lovin Malta.
After the dogs had their fun, Graziana and her son took the pair of chow chows home and gave them food. The mother, however, noticed that one of the dogs, Milo, was holding back.
Not thinking that anything could be wrong, Graziana thought to herself: “Perhaps he’s tired from all the playing and isn’t so hungry”.
She noticed how Milo was not his usual playful self, but instead he was “blankly staring at the wall”.
After some time had passed, Graziana’s worry began to amplify, with Milo’s strange behaviour remaining unchanged.
“He could not lie down to sleep. He was short of breath and trembling. When we touched him, he was burning,” she recalled.
When Graziana took Milo to the emergency, they were told that he had a high temperature. After the vet realised that his belly was stiff, thinking that it was “perhaps just a bit of constipation”, he was given some antibiotics and an injection for the pain.
Things, however, took a turn for the worse when in the middle of the night, Graziana found Milo in her bed “staring incessantly at the wall”.
“I woke up my boyfriend in a frenzy, who found the house covered in blood-laced vomit”, the owner detailed.
Her first instinct was to call the vet who had examined Milo prior. She was told that “it takes some time for the injection to kick in”.
Eventually, she called the vet again who suggested that she take Milo for an ultrasound and to get his blood tested. That particular vet, however, did not have the necessary devices to test the dog herself.
Graziana was restless, calling “every vet in Malta” and since it was the middle of the night, no one answered.
Eventually, she secured a 10.30am appointment.
On the way, Milo kept vomiting blood. The vet tried to perform the necessary tests on him, but she recommended that Graziana swiftly takes her dog to the animal hospital. When she asked the vet if Milo was going to make it, the vet “pursed her lips” and told her “listen to me, go to the animal hospital quickly”.
On the way to the hospital, Milo burst into a fit of barks and painful howls. “He rarely barks,” Graziana told the newsroom.
“What was once a strong and lively dog was looking like a lifeless ball of fur, unable to move,” his owner said.
At the hospital, Milo was taken in for inspection. Barely five minutes had passed when Graziana and her loved ones received the “dreaded phone call”.
“All I know was that his organs burst, and they could not help him,” the owner sorrowfully recalled.
When they asked the professionals what caused Milo’s dead, the professionals speculated that it was most likely “snail poison”.
Following Milo’s passing, Graziana decided not to perform an autopsy on her late dog, since they “wanted to embalm him”.
Rest in peace Milo.
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