(CNN) -- It has all the trappings of a proper murder mystery: an attractive, up-and-coming victim, a sudden death, a mysterious stranger, whispers of poison. Only this case involves a dog, the highly competitive canine show circuit and a professionally adorable Samoyed named GCH CH Polar Mist Cruz'n T'party At Zamosky -- Cruz for short. The 3-year-old dog fell ill and died on February 16 in Lakewood, Colorado, barely a week after he appeared -- but didn't place -- in the prestigious Westminster dog show. "I think somebody deliberately poisoned this dog," Cruz's handler, Robert Chaffin, told CNN on Friday.
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Sudden death of up-and-coming show dog puzzles owner, sparks talk of poisoning
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Owner and handler suspect Cruz, a Samoyed, was poisoned
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The vet who examined the dog says tests weren't done, so we'll never know
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Activist decries the "creepy" world of dog shows
Westminster
@placeholder dismissed the poisoning suggestion, saying no other dogs fell ill at the show.
Robert Chaffin
But the sudden death of an otherwise healthy, closely watched dog seems to point toward poisoning, @placeholder and Blue say.