Dog poisoners are killing at least one a week on Lamma and sometimes as many as four or five, an animal welfare group said yesterday.
The rate of poisonings on Lamma was higher than the well-publicised Mid-Levels toll, said Lamma Animal Protection volunteer John Wedderburn.
He warned pet owners from Hong Kong island who took their pets to Lamma for walks to be wary. 'Dogs just need to pick up one little morsel and that's it,' he said. Some of the dogs which died had been on a leash when they ate the poison, or following close behind owners.
The Mid-Levels dog poisoner, who concentrated on Bowen Road, used poisoned chicken. But on Lamma rat poison or weed killer was usually put in a rice and meat mixture, he said.
There were no full-time veterinary services on the outlying island, although some Lamma pet owners kept antidotes at home, he added.
One Lamma resident said she had lost two pet cats to poison within two years. But she did not know if they had been deliberately poisoned or had fallen victim to chemicals used by villagers to control weeds.
