Crufts dog death: Prize-winning Irish setter 'poisoned in Belgium', post-mortem suggests

There had previously been speculation that Jagger was poisoned at the Crufts event in Birmingham

Jagger, who competed under the name Thendara Satisfaction, died on Friday evening (Amy Nettleton, via Facebook)

A prize-winning dog that died after competing at Crufts was "poisoned in Belgium", it has been reported.

Despite some speculation that Jagger, a three-year-old Irish setter, had allegedly been given beef laced with poison at Crufts, a later post-mortem examination now suggests that Jagger was in fact "poisoned" in Belgium.

Owners of Jagger spoke of their loss after he died after his appearance at Crufts in Birmingham on 5 March, around 28 hours after leaving the show.

The BBC reported that time-frames indicate the poison was ingested in Belgium, a theory which has been supported by an independent toxicologist.

An autopsy revealed that the family pet had beef cubes containing poison in his stomach when he died.

Co-owner Jeremy Bott said he believed the animal had not been targeted, but that he had been poisoned by "slug killer".

"You have got people walking around the show so it is quite easy to feed a dog like that something if you wanted to poison one," Mr Bott added.

Belgian police and the RSPCA were informed of the death while the Kennel Club, which runs Crufts, said it was examining CCTV footage to see if it might yield clues as to the identity of any potential poisoner.

The post-mortem found two poisons, both of which are banned in the EU, in the meat, the Kennel Club has said.