A BERE Alston woman this week urged West Devon dog owners to be aware of a spate of rumours regarding poisoning incidents in the area.

Tracy Beech works at a local veterinary practice and said she was aware of many stories which have emerged recently — but which she feels stem from 'Chinese whispers'.

Tracy actually lost her beloved Jack Russell terrier, Pepper, earlier this summer — the healthy dog died suddenly after suffering seizure-like effects.

'We'd been out for the day, she'd had a lovely time, we'd taken her to the field where we keep my horse,' said Tracy.

'Within half an hour of getting home, she started having these sort of fits. We got her to the vets but she died at home that night. Basically, her muscles went into spasm and she suffocated, it was quite horrific.'

Suspicious as to the cause, Tracy paid to have a post-mortem examination carried out on her pet.

She said: 'They found she had high levels of strychnine, which is a banned substance — the powder form has been banned since the 60s — but somebody has it somewhere and they had been using it.'

Tracy reported the incident to police and to the Campaign Against Accidental or Illegal Poisoning (CAIP).

Tracy said that since the beginning of June, just after Pepper died, she has seen no rabbits in her field in Bere Alston.

She has not seen any buzzards in the area either, when there have always been many of both species previously.

But she wanted to reassure pet owners in the area that although very upsetting, the incident appeared to be isolated.

'There's been no other cases, but I keep hearing rumours about poisoning, so I wanted to set the record straight,' said Tracy.

Strychnine, a banned pesticide, has been outlawed since September 2006 by the EU's Biocide Directive, which states that it can no longer be sold or stored in the UK.