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Dog poisoning toll continues to mount
Visitor says public needs better warnings of potential danger.

By Rebecca Huntington

Riverton residents Jim and Nancy Barrus were driving to Jackson Saturday when they pulled into a scenic turnout on Togwotee Pass to take pictures and let their black lab stretch his legs.

Little did they know the short stopover would send them racing to a veterinarian to save their dog.

Their black lab, Sammy, brings to 21 the number of dogs sickened or killed after consuming a highly toxic pesticide scattered across public and private lands in Wyoming and Idaho. Investigators suspect poison baits were put out to kill wolves, but some dog owners suggest otherwise, saying the plot appears to target dogs with baits placed near homes and recreation sites.

Investigators, however, caution that many more baits may be scattered deeper in the woods undiscovered.

Jim Barrus, meanwhile, had not heard of the poisonings, which began in Teton County in March, and had not seen warnings to keep a close eye on pets. After witnessing what the poison did to his dog, Barrus said he hopes authorities will step up efforts to educate out-of-town visitors to the danger now present in "the most beautiful county in America."

But that won't be easy. "How do you get the word out to the unsuspecting person like me?" Barrus asked.

Pets are not the only ones at risk. The highly-toxic pesticide can be fatal to humans if absorbed through the skin. "I could not sleep with myself if this happened to a child," Barrus said.

The Riverton couple had planned a leisurely visit of biking, shopping and dining in Jackson Hole. When they stopped on Togwotee Pass at a pullout about eight miles from Moran Junction, they walked about 100 yards away from the highway.

They spent no more than 15 minutes there, and Sammy stayed within about 20 yards of his owners. Then they piled back in the car and headed to Grand Teton National Park.

They stopped again no more than 45 minutes later at a pullout near Signal Mountain. Sammy fell getting out of the car.

"He was already foaming at the mouth," Barrus said. "He walked around the car, and he actually just fell over."

In an odd bit of luck, the Barruses had asked about park pet rules at the Moran entrance gate. A park employee had given them a sheet explaining the rules, which included a list of veterinarians and their phone numbers.

They started dialing. A veterinarian advised giving the dog hydrogen peroxide to get Sammy to throw up. The couple cleaned out the three peroxide bottles for sale at a store at Signal Mountain, he said. The 120-pound lab threw up about half an hour later.

In the meantime, a park ranger offered to escort the Riverton residents to the veterinarian while another park employee, an emergency medical technician, met them en route to administer atropine, an antidote. The dose was not potent enough.

At the Jackson Hole Veterinary Clinic, veterinarian Tim Williams was waiting with another shot of atropine, which he administered to Sammy at the car.

"Those people were real heroes," Barrus said. "They kind of knew what was going on. They got us going in the right direction."

Sammy is still recovering, said Barrus, who recounted the ordeal Tuesday from a cell phone while at a veterinarian's office in Riverton, where Sammy was getting a dose of fluids because he wasn't drinking water.

Like other dog owners who have had pets poisoned Barrus questioned the motivation for the poisonings. If they were intended for wolves, they should be found where wolves roam, Barrus suggested.

"Why wouldn't these things be back in the woods where wolves would be?" he asked.

Teton County Animal Control Officer Darren Rudd, who is investigating the incidents, agreed other motives could be at play.

"Whoever is doing this is just upset with the world in general," Rudd said, "and is just trying to make some sort of statement."

Hunting outfitter Lynn Madsen, however, said he suspects wolves are the motive though the perpetrators "are not very smart."

Moreover, Madsen said he's worried hunters will be blamed because of their outspoken opposition to wolves.

"A lot of people will point fingers at us," said Madsen, who is president of the Jackson Hole Outfitters Association. "I do not condone it. I don't like anybody's dogs being poisoned."

In fact, Madsen is now worried for his own dogs, since baits were discovered near the Turpin Meadow Trailhead where he leads pack trips into the Teton Wilderness. His dogs are his first line of defense against another predator, grizzlies, he said.

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