First Post

This blog is a follow-up to a Speak Out article we posted on this and a few other local Patches a few weeks ago titled Beware Of The Little Flags On The Lawn.  Subtitled “We wish someone had told us about this a long time ago,” it tells of the death of our beloved Beagle/Terrier X Murphy, a therapy dog who developed lymphoma and whom we had to put to sleep just one day after his sixth birthday. Subsequent research has convinced us and many others that his illness and death resulted from his exposure to herbicides and pesticides regularly sprayed on our neighbor’s property and which drifted over onto our own yard.

The article received a staggering response: dozens of positive comments and over 500 Facebook Likes from the D/M Patch alone, and many more from the Madison, Clinton and Middletown Patches.

The principal thrust of our article was to warn people that, just because they do not spray or use toxins on their own property, they, their children and their pets are not safe if these airborne poisons are used on properties in their neighborhood or on public lands such as schools, parks, golf courses, etc., where their children and pets may play. A frightening common denominator in so many of the responses we got was how many others lost pets in similar circumstances, exposure to toxic lawn and garden treatments not their own. 

Our intent in future postings is to make you aware of some specific dangers to people, pets and the environment that we are uncovering in our ongoing research and to help you appreciate the huge risks to you and your family’s health in ignoring this information. In other words, telling you some things we wish someone had told us long, long ago. And we emphasize the importance of personal responsibility in dealing with these dangers: e.g., we wish we had kept Murphy out of the yard for a few days after each spraying next door, as well as taken in and washed his water dish and toys.

We also will share anecdotes about this special little guy who came to us through Petfinder as a rescued trailer-trash puppy from Indiana and grew up to be a beloved hospice and hospital therapy dog as well as a popular trickster and bon vivant about town, frequenting the library, bank, feed and pet stores, nurseries, etc. If we with Murphy’s help can help a few others avoid the pain of such unnecessary tragedy, we can ask for no better legacy to his memory.

Terry and Don Bourret