Dog owners warned after family’s seven-month-old sproodle puppy dies from mystery illness

A mother issued a warning to dog owners after her seven-month-old pup died of a mysterious illness days after taking a walk in the park.

Chloe Vickers brought her sproodle puppy Oscar, a cross between a Poodle and an English Springer Spaniel, to Wythenshawe Park in Greater Manchester on February 9.

However, within a few hours of being there, Oscar began to get sick. Just three days later he died in his house with his family.

Since then, Vickers has taken to social media to warn other dog owners to be careful on walks and watch for any signs of illness.

The RSPCA also urges people who experience something similar with their pets to contact their vets immediately.

A map of Wythenshawe Park in Greater Manchester, where Oscar began to feel ill

Manchester City Council said they are aware of the problem.

“The park is always full of dog walkers, it just happened to us and it feels like really bad luck,” Vickers said..

“I took Oscar for a walk in the park on Thursday morning like we always did and he was running like he always did.

‘This day we took a slightly different route from the café into a forest. However, he was still running normally around here and everything was normal.

But when we got back, he didn’t drink anything that wasn’t like him after a walk like that. He later became ill and we took him to the vet where he was given medication against the disease.

“But at this point he started bleeding and was throwing up a lot. It seemed that he was deteriorating rapidly and was becoming really lethargic.

The vets said they couldn’t see him again right away because he wasn’t insured yet. It was horrible calling all day Friday and Saturday trying to get some kind of help we could see he was dying right now.

“The next appointment we got they told us to take him home to die. It was heartbreaking to see him die in front of us, we had no idea why it was happening.

Ms Vickers said the sproodle puppy was her family’s first dog and her son “absolutely loved him”.

Ms Vickers said it was not the first time she had heard of something similar happening at Wythenshawe Park, with a friend who also lost a dog in similar circumstances last year. She hopes to use her story to raise awareness for other dog owners.

“We only had him since October, he was such a good dog. My little boy absolutely loved him, he still calls him now, asking ‘where are you Oscar?’. This was our first dog as a family, he is very sad, we have cried so much.”

She doesn’t know for sure what caused the disease, but she suspects that something in the woods may have poisoned Oscar or passed the Parovirus to him.

An RSPCA spokesperson said: “This is worrying and our thoughts are with the dog owners who have been affected by this.” We have not been made aware of these incidents, however we urge anyone whose pet becomes ill in similar circumstances to contact their veterinarian immediately.”

Manchester City Council also said they are asking their parks staff to remain vigilant.