Family pet succumbs to snake bite

CAWSTON, B.C. – A Cawston couple are extending a note caution to rural residents and those walking their dogs in the wild after a rattlesnake killed the family dog in their yard on the weekend.

Sally Taylor let the family dog Pickles out into the front yard Saturday morning, June 27. The dog returned bleeding from the eye and mouth.

“We thought she might have developed a tumour. We didn’t know what happened,” Sally’s husband Dan says.

The couple got the dog to the vet, and she died shortly after. The vet found puncture wounds on the dog's face.

After a brief search of their yard, a rattlesnake was found in some bushes.

“I don’t mind (snakes) out in the wild, but when they get into your living space, that’s another story," Dan says.

The Taylors say the dog was just following her normal morning routine when she was attacked.

“In this warm weather, snakes are on the move,” Dan says, urging pet owners to be careful out on trails with their pets.

He says they have seen rattlesnakes in their yard before. Their home is near the base of  Fairview Mountain in Cawston.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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4 responses

  1. Rusty Johnson

    So sorry for your loss, it’s so hard losing a part of your family. I had to put down my little male dachsie, in April and still miss him terribly.

  2. Judith M Haynes

    Awe so very sorry for the loss of your wee 4 legged family member. Snakes always are in the back of my mind.. I have had horses bitten and it is not funny. May your wee Angel Rest in Peace.

  3. Theresa Polaski

    poor dog wish we could keep pets and wildlife apart but it just doesn’t happen with out our supervision.

  4. Doreen Kearns

    Oh I am so sorry for you guys loosing a beautifuldashhound like that ..sorry ,so sorry

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Steve Arstad

I have been looking for news in the South Okanagan - SImilkameen for 20 years, having turned a part time lifelong interest into a full time profession. After five years publishing a local newsletter, several years working as a correspondent / stringer for several local newspapers and seven years as editor of a Similkameen weekly newspaper, I joined iNFOnews.ca in 2014. My goal in the news industry has always been to deliver accurate and interesting articles about local people and places. My interest in the profession is life long - from my earliest memories of grade school, I have enjoyed writing.
As an airborne geophysical surveyor I travelled extensively around the globe, conducting helicopter borne mineral surveys.
I also spent several years at an Okanagan Falls based lumber mill, producing glued-wood laminated products.
As a member of the Kaleden community, I have been involved in the Kaleden Volunteer Fire Department for 22 years, and also serve as a trustee on the Kaleden Irrigation District board.
I am currently married to my wife Judy, of 26 years. We are empty-nesters who enjoy living in Kaleden with our Welsh Terrier, Angus, and cat, Tibbs.
Our two daughters, Meagan and Hayley, reside in Richmond and Victoria, respectively.

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