Belgian show dog apparently poisoned at Britain's Crufts dog show

Somebody poisoned Jagger, a 3-year-old Irish Setter show dog
(Image credit: Twitter/@BBCNews)

Last Thursday, an Irish Setter named Thendara Satisfaction took second prize in his class at the prestigious Crufts dog show in Birmingham, England. A day later, back home in Belgium, the dog, called Jagger, became ill and died. The vet was suspicious and performed an autopsy on the 3-year-old show dog. "They found cubes of beef in his stomach that had at least two types of poison inside," co-owner and breeder Dee Millington-Bott tells CNN. "He had enough in his system to kill a horse, according to the vet."

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Belgian police have launched an investigation, and everyone is expecting a full toxicology report next week. Nothing has ever happened like this in the 124-year history of Crufts, according to the Kennel Club, which runs the dog show. The motive for the poisoning is unclear. "We're quite successful and that can of course make people jealous," Willem Lauwers, husband of Belgian co-owner Aleksandra Lauwers, tells BBC News.

But Millington-Bott, a Briton, says she doesn't believe it was a competitor. "I've been doing this for 30-odd years and I think I would have to give up on everything if I believed that someone who shows and breeds dogs would kill a dog," she tells CNN. "We all do this because we love dogs. If you hate me for being successful, then stick a brick through my window or something. But why would you involve a dog?"

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.