A HEARTBROKEN dog owner has revealed his beloved French bulldog died after accidentally eating “rat poison”.

Louie Bennett, 21, walked his pup Joker around the Elm Green area of Pitsea every day but the dog suddenly fell ill.

Joker was rushed to Pitsea PDSA, which offers free emergency animal healthcare, but they were unable to save him.

The vets told Louie that they believed due to Joker’s symptoms the dog had ingested some form of poison, most likely rat poison.

Louie said: “He started having fits and he was kept in the vets, he was vomiting and it was black and bloody.

“We rushed him back to the vets and we received a call that we had to go because he wasn’t going to make it.

“Joker had been coughing blood and when we got there it was pouring from his nose where he was internally bleeding.

“The vet told us it was rat poison that had been found in his stomach.

“Where the poison had burnt away at his stomach, by the time the vets had responded, he was too far gone.

“He was a dog for our whole family, it has hit our family very hard and I am devastated.”

Mr Bennett worries that Joker may have eaten poison left out to tackle issues with rats in the Pitsea area.

He is now speaking out to warn other dog owners in the area so they can keep an eye out while walking their pets.

He added: “It does make sense, rats are bad around the Pitsea area and if it was unmarked rat poison, it is incredibly worrying.

“We want to raise awareness of this and make sure this doesn’t happened to anyone else.

“I don’t believe the council usually do put down poison in this area but if they have, something needs to be done.

“It is so worrying and I have been to Basildon Council and Environmental Health regarding this.”

A Basildon Council spokesperson said: “We are sorry to learn of the unfortunate passing of Mr Bennet’s dog. Basildon Council has not laid traps of any kind in Elm Green, Pitsea nor does it use poison.

“The council does undertake limited baiting in areas of concern, any bait will be strategically placed to avoid discovery or ingestion by other animals.”