Rat poison confirmed as cause of dog’s death in Swampscott

SWAMPSCOTT – Swampscott dog owner Ron Beckett is mourning the death of his 3-year-old mini-dachshund that died from rat poison, while trying to make sure other dogs don’t suffer the same fate.”I couldn’t understand how he could get into rat poison,” Beckett said.So Beckett mentioned it to his son, Bob, who also lives in the area.”Bob had the answer,” Beckett said. “There is a pile of rat traps at the Fish House that are all busted up and broken.”Beckett and his dog, Calvin, had a routine, which took them past the Humphrey Street Fish House everyday.”(Calvin) lives in my shop in the basement,” Beckett said. “I go down every morning and I usually sit on the stairs, change my shoes and say ‘where’s Calvin?’ and he comes galloping over, but (Tuesday) he didn’t.”Beckett said when he got up to look for the dog he found Calvin lying in the middle of the floor, unmoving, eyes open and cold.”I picked him up and tried to massage him, but he was dead,” he said.A necropsy showed that Calvin died after ingesting rat poison, which Beckett said left him stumped until he spoke with his son. Beckett and Calvin spent nearly every morning running Fisherman’s Beach, with Calvin chasing after tennis balls.”If you can imagine those little four-inch legs with the oversized paws flying over the sand,” he said. “Everyone who sees him loves him. You can’t help it.”The runs always ended at the Fish House where Beckett said he would grab Calvin’s leash and the pair would exit the beach via the narrow driveway on the east side of the building right past where he later confirmed there was a small pile of rat traps. One of the traps was missing the top portion leaving the inside fully exposed.Beckett said he believes the traps were tossed around and damaged during the recent storms and, once opened, the rat poison leached onto the beach.”You know what dogs are like, they stop and sniff everything,” Beckett said. “He must have bit a piece of something that had the poison on it. It’s the only thing I can think that could have happened.”Beckett said he keeps no rat poison in his home and Calvin was always on a leash, supervised, or with him in his shop except for their early morning beach adventures.Town Administrator Thomas Younger said he was unaware of the incident and offered Beckett his condolences and his help.”I’m sorry for his companion,” Younger said. “What I will do is speak to the Health Department and have them investigate.”Younger said there are a number of people who use and work out of the Fish House, and he is not sure who is responsible for the rat traps but he said he would find out. He also said he would make sure they were cleaned up immediately.Beckett said that is a good start but he hopes the town looks at the bigger picture.”I would hope they set up some controls,” he said. “We have storm surges all the time and if you have rat traps out and they get damaged the rat poison gets on the beach and it’s a health issue ? it’s a dangerous situation, rat poison is not something to be fooled around with.”Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].