A dad-of-two is warning other owners to be vigilant after his family dog was killed by rat poison.

Kris Van Haeften had been walking his German Shepherd English Pointer cross in the woods around Hoath Lane in Rainham, Medway, on Friday, April 14, didn’t notice anything was wrong with him at first.

The following day, Kris revealed the family thought their dog, Bruce, began struggling to walk.

He said: "We took him to the emergency vet and they couldn't feel any breaks or anything so they gave him painkillers and anti-inflammatories.

"I took him to my vet the following day, and they weren't too sure what it was. The next day, we had to have him put down because he was so completely poisoned and it had caused necrosis.

"It's horrible for me to talk about. The vet was actually crying talking about it, she hadn't seen anything like it."

Kris lives in Wigmore with wife Ruth and children Jack and Alice, who have all been left heartbroken by the loss.

He added: "I’m just absolutely devastated and so are my family, and a lot of the people we used to walk up the woods with. We got to know a lot of other people, a lot of the dog walkers knew him.”

Kris said the family knew Bruce had been poisoned, but the cause remained a mystery, until he was walking round the woods with a friend and spotted five piles of rat poison which had been placed at different points around the path.

The 49-year-old greengrocer continued: "I'm trying to make as many people aware about it as possible. This is the first time I've seen them there, and I only live round the corner from here so I walk in every day to make sure there's no more.

"I don't want people to not come out with their dogs but I want people to know if they see anything like that, this is what it is.

"Maybe keep your dogs a bit closer or do a lap of the path with the dogs on the lead first to check there's no poison about.

"There's lots of little kids, toddlers, grandparents around here too, and this stuff is pretty potent. Bruce was a 40 kilo dog but unfortunately, you don't have to ingest a lot of it."

Kris shared the warning in a local Facebook group, saying: "I want to thank everyone in the Rainham Community for all their kind words and love.

"What I want really is for people to be aware."

A police spokesman confirmed officers were called to a report of a dog dying after being walked in East Hoath Woods in Rainham.

The spokesman added: “The dog was believed to have ingested rat’s poison.”

A Medway Council spokesman said: “We have been made aware that a dog became seriously unwell after walking in the woods at East Hoath over the weekend, and sadly died.

“Our rangers have visited the area and have not found anything suspicious.

“We would encourage dog walkers to be cautious when walking in the area and report any concerns to us by phoning 01634 333333 or through on our website - medway.gov.uk/environment.

“Our thoughts are with the owners of the dog.”

The council also advised any residents reporting concerns to include as much detail as possible on the location. including the what3words.