The Animal Health Board is warning dog owners on the West Coast to be extra vigiliant, now that a series of aerial possum control operations using the poison 1080 are underway.
Community relations adviser Imogen Squires says warning signs have been put up at every major public access point where the operations are being carried out.
She says aerial drops of 1080, which began last weekend, will play an important part in controlling the spread of bovine turberculosis from wild animals to farmed cattle and deer herds, and in protecting the West Coast's $850 million farming economy.
Ms Squires says it won't be safe for dogs to re-enter an area until all warning signs have been officially removed, and if an owner suspects their dog may have eaten any poison, they should immediately take it to a veterinarian.
