[Dailydrool] Chemicals on lawns

[Kay, Nancy K *HS]

Our very first "real" basset hound was Cleo, who we got from a puppy-mill at age 6 weeks. (This was almost 20 years ago, wish I had known then what I know now.) Cleo was adorable, and fit well into our family, and the months passed. It was springtime, and we decided to have our lawn cared for by a lawn service, who came and sprayed stuff on our grass. A few days later, our 6-year-old daughter said "Mommy, Cleo is walking funny."

Sure enough, our basset puppy was stumbling around a bit, and then she'd be fine. In the next week, Cleo went from wobbling a little, to collapsing totally. She'd walk fine one minute and be flat on the ground the next. It quickly got to the point where she couldn't stand up long enough to pee or eat, and we ended up losing her when she was only 14 months old. The vets said it was probably a brain tumor or poisoning that caused her neurologic problems since their onset was so quick. To this day, we are convinced it was the lawn chemicals, and we have not used anything like them in the last 20 years.

Nancy, owned by Frank the Tank, and Tina the sock-stealer