Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Sick dogs mystery as rest home near Otamatea Reserve denies using rat bait

Jacob McSweeny
By Jacob McSweeny
Assistant news director·Whanganui Chronicle·
12 Jul, 2018 02:00 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

There were concerns rat bait was being laid near Otamatea Reserve last week when several dogs fell ill.

There were concerns rat bait was being laid near Otamatea Reserve last week when several dogs fell ill.

The owner of a rest home near Otamatea Reserve says his organisation has never used rat bait because of the danger it would cause pets.

Last week several dogs that had walked at the reserve became unwell and there were concerns unwell rats had been seen drinking from a trough at Otamatea.

The Whanganui District Council said one of the sick dogs was taken to Massey University for tests but it's yet to hear back on the results.

One woman who walked her dogs at Otamatea Reserve was concerned a nearby rest home had possibly laid down rat bait.

The Chronicle understands that concern has been repeated among others in the dog-walking community.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Philip Tebbutt, who owns the Virginia Lodge Rest Home next door to Otamatea Reserve, denied he would have ever used rat bait.

"That is just absolute rubbish," he said.

"We've got dogs and cats here as well. If anyone's going to get poisoned it would be mine.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"To be fair I'm here all the time ... I haven't seen a rat running around my place. We do have mice traps out and we do get the odd mouse but the cats keep them down fairly well."

Tebbutt said he'd never had contractors or anyone from outside his rest home that could have used rat bait.

"I do it all myself. I do all the trimming, the mowing, the hedges, general maintenance. It's not possible it could have come from this place - not at all.

"I spoke with my nurse manager and she and her partner had run it here for the last 25 years and they'd never put rat baits out. She was horrified."

Discover more

Rat poison fears as dogs struck down

06 Jul 08:00 PM

Dog day fun at Gonville agility contest

09 Jul 05:00 AM
New Zealand

Dog dead amidst poison fears at popular dog park

05 Oct 01:22 AM

Calls for test results to be made public

08 Oct 04:00 PM

Tebbutt said it was more likely that if rat bait had made its way to Otamatea Reserve it would have come from one of the households surrounding the park.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

'Just incredible': Pupils save choking child on school bus

03 Jul 05:00 PM
live
Whanganui Chronicle

Hail, storms hit North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit areas

03 Jul 05:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

'Expand my horizons': Scholarship fuels student's global ambitions

03 Jul 05:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

'Just incredible': Pupils save choking child on school bus

'Just incredible': Pupils save choking child on school bus

03 Jul 05:00 PM

The St John in Schools programme taught them vital lifesaving skills.

Hail, storms hit North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit areas
live

Hail, storms hit North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit areas

03 Jul 05:00 PM
'Expand my horizons': Scholarship fuels student's global ambitions

'Expand my horizons': Scholarship fuels student's global ambitions

03 Jul 05:00 PM
Ngāti Ruanui files urgent Waitangi Tribunal claim over mining project

Ngāti Ruanui files urgent Waitangi Tribunal claim over mining project

02 Jul 10:42 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP