A COUPLE have been left heartbroken after their golden retriever died from toxic shock caused by cow medication he found in a field. 

Scott Pattison was walking 10-year-old Bailey and his other dogs Holly and Lucy when the inquisitive pooch picked up a capsule containing monensin, which is used to treat bloating in cattle.

Around 90 minutes later, Bailey was unable to stand and struggling to breathe, so Scott rushed him to a vet.

Arrangements were then made to transfer him to Glasgow University’s vet school so he could be monitored overnight but he suffered organ failure and died on his way to the Garscube campus.

Scott, 44, told the Barrhead News: “It’s very sad. Bailey was just a big, happy boy who loved running about and having fun.

“Everyone loved him.”

Scott had taken his dogs for a walk in a field at the rear of Crofthead House, in Neilston, when Bailey picked up an orange tube containing the medication.

Barrhead News: The toxic medication was found at this Neilston field.The toxic medication was found at this Neilston field.

Six-year-old Holly also came into contact with the drug and later started to vomit, leading to a two-night stay in the vet school, where blood tests revealed she had ingested monensin.

Thankfully, she has since made a full recovery.

However, losing Bailey has left Scott and his partner Laura Watson heartbroken.

Laura, 49, who was in hospital for knee surgery at the time, said: “Bailey was a bit of character. He would run from one end of the field to the other if he saw someone he knew that he would get a biscuit from.

“I’d really like to thank our neighbour Lesley Anderson for helping Scott through it all, as well as thanking the staff at Abbey Vets, in Paisley, and the vet school for their assistance.”

It is not known how the medication ended up in the field, which is used to grow grass for cattle feed and for horse jumping during the Neilston Cattle Show.

However, cows are known to regurgitate the capsules and Laura believes it may have ended up in the field after cattle slurry was spread there six weeks ago.

“Obviously something as toxic as this shouldn’t just be kicking about,” she said. A spokeswoman for East Renfrewshire Council said: “Any incident relating to the welfare of an animal is taken extremely seriously and we have passed information on to the appropriate authorities.”