A retired couple fear their dog may have been deliberately poisoned by human laxatives after it suffered crippling diarrhoea.

Jenny and Tony Blunt take their dog Flo for a walk at the green in Grasmere Road in Ashford several times a day.

But in July this year they spotted the three-year-old Jack Russell was unwell after a walk at the green and took her to the vets.

Mrs Blunt, 65, a former mental health occupational therapist, said: “I took her for a walk up at the green early one morning a few months ago.

“She had really bad diarrhoea. We didn’t panic too much at first, we just thought it was something she had eaten. So we took her to the vets.”

Mr Blunt, 62, a retired NHS microbiologist, said Flo was then checked over at the vets.

He said: “Afterwards we went home in the car, but by the time we had got back there the car was awash. It was like a tap which you couldn’t switch off. It was everywhere.

“I called the vets and took her straight back, and she had to spend another five nights there.”

Mrs Blunt said Flo was so ill that she very nearly died, and had to make an insurance claim for more than £1,000 for the vet costs.

She said: “It was horrendous, I’ve had dogs all my life and I’ve never seen a dog as ill as that. She had lost so much weight, she couldn’t eat and couldn’t drink and was on a drip at the vets.

“When I was in there I was chatting to another lady who said there had been a dog with similar symptoms after walking there. They were able to get a clipping of the fur which showed there was the laxative.”

"If I had got my hands on the person putting down the laxative I would have killed them" - Jenny Blunt

Flo has since recovered from the incident in July this year. But Mrs Blunt says she is now much more cautious while out walking.

She added: “Flo is naturally a nosy and inquisitive dog and she is back to her regular self, but she doesn’t go off the lead now because we are paranoid that she will sniff something that will make her ill again.

“You hear reports around about people putting things down to hurt animals, with things like slug pellets in bits of ham, or anti-freeze to hurt cats.

“If I had got my hands on the person putting down the laxative I would have killed them. There are some sick people out there.”

Has your pet been affected by poisoning in Ashford? Email us: kentishexpress@thekmgroup.co.uk