Kennel Club: Crufts dog Jagger poisoned in Belgium

A dog who was believed to have died after being poisoned at Crufts is now thought to have ingested the poison when it returned to Belgium, the Kennel Club has said.

Three-year-old Irish setter Jagger, whose show name was Thendara Satisfaction, died after returning to Belgium following the event in Birmingham earlier this month.

In a statement, The Kennel Club said the dog's owners had now received confirmation Jagger died from ingesting a piece of poisoned beef.

But timeframes suggest two poisons, banned in the UK, were ingested in Belgium rather than in the UK, the club said.

"There has been a lot of concern about whether the poisoning happened at Crufts and we are now able to reassure all dog lovers who came to Crufts that this could not have been possible and it is highly likely that the poisons, thought to be on a piece of beef, were eaten in Belgium, shortly before Jagger's death," the statement said.

Nick Edwards, Senior Information Scientist, Veterinary Poisons Information Service, said the clinical effects of the poisons, if ingested by a dog, would be rapid in onset, normally between half an hour and three hours.

The Kennel Club added that no dog had been shown to have been sick at or after Crufts due to poison ingested at the show following rumours other dogs had been poisoned at the Birmingham NEC event.

"We must stress that despite reports to the contrary which have caused a lot of concern to dog lovers, absolutely no dog has been shown to have been sick at or after Crufts due to poison ingested at the show, there are no veterinary reports or evidence to support this notion, and no official reports of poisoning have been made to the police," the statement said.

Watch the full statement from The Kennel Club below: