(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
@placeholder dismissed the poisoning suggestion, saying no other dogs fell ill at the show.