A woman has issued a warning to pet owners after a popular garden plant she bought on Groupon killed one of her dogs and left the second fighting for life.
Gill McClung, 47, paid £29.99 for two King Sago palms without realising they contain a toxin that is highly poisonous to animals.
The only warning on the packaging said ‘not for consumption, for decorative use’ but according to Mrs McClung, the plant gave off an aroma that attracted both her dogs Harley, a three year-old border collier and Kruz, a husky aged six, who pulled it out and started eating it.
Both dogs fell seriously ill and Harley spent 10 days in pain before dying from liver failure, while Kruz survived after treatment.
Mrs McClung, a foster carer from Stroud, Gloucestershire, said: “I’m absolutely heartbroken, it’s a massive loss to me.
“You just don’t expect them to be poisonous.
“The labelling on the packaging said ‘not for consumption, for decorative use’ but it didn’t say anything about being toxic and the plant is not on the poisonous plants for dogs list.
“We think it was the smell of the plants that attracted the dogs to eat them. They give off an aroma and taste good to dogs.”
Kruz ate some parts of the plant, which is native to Japan but very popular as an ornamental plant in the UK, while Harley ate the root which contains most of the poisonous toxin, cycasin.
Mrs McClung said: “I want to make people aware that these are highly toxic plants. Before you buy any plants, do your research.
“What I really want if for the supplies to put a warning on it, even just a symbol of a dog with a cross through it.”
Vet Lourens Brand, of the Bowbridge Veterinary Group, confirmed that Harley died from cycasin and said he had never come across a case like it before.
A Groupon spokesman said: “We have lots of dog lovers here at Groupon and we’re very sorry to hear about this.
“We are looking into this with the merchant who supplied the product and also speaking directly to the customer.”
Gardening Express, who supplied the plants, said: “As dog lovers and owners, I must say how saddened we all were here to learn of the tragic death of Harley and we offer our deepest sympathy.
“Since learning of this event, we have started to work on collating data on plants that are or could be harmful to pets.
“We ship over 150,000 orders every year, and have supplied millions of plants over the years and we want to lead the industry on this.”