'Saw him dying in front of us': Heartbroken dog owner warns others as pup mysteriously dies days after stroll in park

Chloe Vickers said, 'My young son absolutely loved him, he still calls for him now, asking 'where are you Oscar?''

PUBLISHED FEB 18, 2023

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND: A mother has alarmed other dog parents following the death of her seven-month-old pooch from an unknown illness just days after taking a stroll in the park. Chloe Vickers went out for a walk with her pup, Oscar, who was a crossbreed between a Poodle and an English Springer Spaniel, to Wythenshawe Park in Greater Manchester on February 9.

However, Oscar started to get sick within a few hours and tragically died at home with his family just after three days of visiting the park. Vickers has since taken the help of social media to alert other dog owners to be very careful while taking out on walks and to look out for any signs of sickness. Manchester City Council said they are aware of the issue. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) also advised people to contact the vets immediately if they experience something similar with their pets.

Patient severely burnt as fire breaks out in operating theater during routine surgery at private hospital

What did Chloe Vickers say?

"The park is always full of dogwalkers, it's just happened to us which feels like really bad luck," Vickers told Manchester Evening News. She added, "I took Oscar out on a walk in the park on Thursday morning as we would always do and he was running around as he always would. This day we went a slightly different route from the café and into some woods. He was running around as normal here still though and everything was normal. But when we got back he wouldn't drink anything which wasn't like him at all after a walk like that. Later on, he was sick and we took him to the vet where they gave him anti-sickness drugs."

Vickers further added, "But at this point, he started passing blood and was vomiting a lot. It seemed he was quickly deteriorating and becoming really lethargic. The vets said they couldn't see him straight away again as he wasn't insured yet. It was horrible ringing around all day on Friday and Saturday trying to get some kind of help, we could just see he was dying at this point. The next appointment we got we were told to take him home to die. It was heartbreaking to see him dying right in front of us, we had no idea why it was happening."

Vickers shared a similar incident

Vickers claimed that it is not the first time this type of incident had happened at the Wythenshawe Park. She said one of her friends also had her dog in a similar fashion last year. She is hoping to use her story as well to raise awarness among other dog owners. She added, "We'd only had him since October, he was such a good dog. My young son absolutely loved him, he still calls for him now, asking 'where are you Oscar?' This was our first dog as a family, it's just so sad, we've done so much crying."

Although the official cause of her dog's death is still unknown, she suspects that might have been something in the woods which had poisoned Oscar or given him parovirus. An RSPCA spokesman said, "This is concerning and our thoughts are with dog-owners who have been affected by this. We haven’t been made aware of these incidents, however we urge anyone whose pet falls ill in similar circumstances to contact their vets straightaway."