COUNCIL

merORANOM : FEB 18 wel

Mayor and Council February 15th, 1980,

L.D. Pollock,
City Administrator.

Damage Claim — Poisoned Dogs

Our Vector Centrol Officer was called to investigate a Rodent
problem on Mary Hill last year and subsequently placed Rodent bait at
1467 Eastern Drive and 1463 Eastern Drive. Both property owners had dogs
and unfortunately following the baiting both dogs died from apparent
potsoning. The animals were both analyzed and we have received results of
a Laboratory report from the Minister of Agricultural Lab ot Abbotsford
with further tests being done by the Alberta Department of AGriculture.
The Rodent bait employed in this particular instance was a chemical called
Diphacinone, however the Laboratory reports indicated a positive sampling
of another poison called Warfarin-The results of the tests therefore would
appear to indicate it was not our baiting procedures that caused the deaths
however, there is no indication of any other baiting activity in the area
and the owners of the dogs are certain that Warfarin was not employed in
the area, Warfarin is a common rat bait available at any pharmacy. Samples
of our bait were analyzed and the results indicate that the contents are as
indicated by the manufacturer therefore we can not suspect a faulty batch.
A further complication is that the Laboratories had difficulty in correctly
analyzing the presence or extent of Diphacinone in the animal tissue.

Although there is no conclusive evidence that our poison caused
the death it obviously contributed to seme way te the death of these
animals and I therefore feel that the City is in some way responsible.

Both owners incurred substantial veterinary bills in trying to save the
dogs and in one case the dog was a purebred Springer Spanicl.

The claims are as follows:

Owner at 1467 Eastern Drive - $303.00
Owner at 1463 Eastern Drive - $223.00

I would recommend that we reimburae the owners for their loss.

L.D. Pollock,
City Administrator,