A brute using lethal poison is thought to be behind the death of several pets in Pembroke.

Two dogs and a cat have died from paraquat poisoning -- and a third dog is seriously ill.

"It's definitely deliberate because paraquat was used,'' the owner of the dogs told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

The owner -- who chose to remain anonymous -- explained the toxins in paraquat were neutralised when they came into contact with soil.

Therefore, she said, someone must have placed the poison in a container for the animals to eat it.

And Maureen Ware, a veterinarian at the Hanover clinic which treated the pets, said paraquat was designed with specific ingredients to make it unpalatable.

"Our experience, which is quite considerable, is that it is difficult to get an animal to take it unless the taste is disguised,'' said Dr. Ware. "It does take a good deal of cunning to disguise its flavour sufficiently so that an animal will ingest enough to kill it.'' "It's not a casual thing. It cannot be a casual thing,'' she added.

It is still unknown where the animals found the poison and the owner said there were numerous dogs in the King's Gate neighbourhood. But she added she had never received any complaints.

Early symptoms of paraquat ingestion include extreme vomiting and diarrhoea and can lead to "extreme agony'' for the animal as internal organs are attacked. Survival chances depend on how much of the weed killer is ingested and how quickly medical treatment is administered.

But even if victims survive, they may be plagued with later health problems stemming from the poison.

Dr. Ware went on to raise concerns about the possibility for persons of "ill intent'' to poison humans inadvertently.

"What is there to say that only an animal will pick up the bait?'' she asked.

"How do you know that a kid doesn't come along and pick that up?'' Government banned the importation of paraquat in 1995 because it was believed to have caused a spate of animal deaths.

A Police spokesman said members of the public who believed their pets may have been poisoned or abused had a right to lodge a complaint.

But he pointed out that once an animal had ingested a substance, it was difficult to prove the act was a deliberate poisoning.

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