Police are urging dog owners to be cautious after three dogs were deliberately poisoned in west Suffolk.

Over the evening of Thursday, June 24, three dogs that were roaming free within the grounds of a rural home are believed to have been deliberately poisoned, Suffolk police said.

The owner found all three dogs unconscious the next morning and tests have confirmed that they had ingested Pentobarbital, an anaesthetic used for sedation and euthanasia in cats and dogs and only available on prescription.

The exact method of transmission is not known – but police suspect the dogs were fed with food laced with the drug.

The intentions of the suspects is also unknown but police believe this is likely to be the actions of would-be thieves that were disturbed.

Sgt Brian Calver, from the Rural and Wildlife Policing Team at Suffolk police, said: "This is a particularly worrying incident.

"Criminals will go to great lengths to steal other people’s property but this is simply disgusting and wicked.

"The dogs involved have all made a recovery but only by early intervention and good fortune.

"This could easily have resulted in the dogs deaths, which is something we don’t want to see anybody suffer.

"With than in mind, we’d urge anybody that does allow dogs to wander free at night to reconsider their security arrangements and ensure the dogs are kept safe and secure.”

Anybody that has any information which could assist in this investigation is urged to contact Suffolk police, quoting crime reference number 37/39683/22.