Crufts 'murder': Prize-winning dog 'was poisoned by an outsider not a rival competitor'

The co-owner of a prize-winning dog which died after appearing at Crufts has insisted the animal was poisoned by an 'outsider'.

Three-year-old Irish setter Thendara Satisfaction, known as Jagger, is alleged to have swallowed beef cubes containing up to three different poisons.

The dog collapsed and died after returning to Belgium having come second in his class at Crufts, held at Birmingham's NEC.

Leicester-based breeder Dee Milligan-Bott, who owns the dog with Belgian Aleksandra Lauwers, said the deadly beef cubes were discovered after a post-mortem examination.

She claimed the tests also showed that the dog must have been given the meat "while on his bench at Crufts".

Writing on Facebook, she said: "I certainly don't want our shows, the places we work so hard to get to to become a ground of finger pointing and suspicion.

"I therefore need you all to know that we can't and we won't think that this was the act of another exhibitor, if we thought this we couldn't go on, and the last 30 years would be a complete waste.

"So I ask all of you to unite in finding the perpetrator who did this, And let's continue to produce and breed our gorgeous dogs who we are all so proud of."

Mrs Lauwers added: "To person who has done it, hope you can sleep well knowing you have killed our love, family member and best friend to our son."

A spokeswoman for the Kennel Club, which runs Crufts, said they were awaiting a toxicology report from Belgian police to shed some light on Jagger's death.

Secretary Caroline Kisko said: "The Kennel Club is deeply shocked and saddened to hear that Jagger the Irish setter died some 26 hours after leaving Crufts.

"We have spoken to his owners and our heartfelt sympathies go out to them. We understand that the toxicology report is due next week and until that time we cannot know the cause of this tragic incident."

Crufts presenter Clare Balding said the situation is "awful for all concerned".

Speaking to DogsWorld website yesterday Mrs Milligan-Bott said Jagger may not have been the target of the poisoning.

"I'm not sure which bench Jagger would have been on when this happened, but he would have moved bench," she said.

"We had three dogs one side and two the other. There was a bit of a muddle. But you become paranoid after a while."