A single case of dog poisoning, after a bait was taken accidentally, is believed to be the cause of town-wide alarm.

Police today began an investigation into a claim which spread like wildfire on social media on Tuesday night.

Most of the claims were found to be unfounded by police.

A single dog may have accidentally taken a 1080 bait from an area where the baits were inappropriately laid, police said.

Katherine vet Alex Burleigh has said there have been zero recent 1080 poisoning cases at the NT Vet Service.   

“We haven’t heard of dogs dying of 1080 in Katherine, and we haven’t had any cases come into our practice,” he said. 

“It is a pretty nasty situation if your dog is poisoned … in the past, years ago there were two cases, with the possibility of 1080, but that was it.”

Mr Burleigh said that although 1080 is used for baiting programs to control wild dogs, usually on stations, there have been no recent cases in Katherine. 

“The wild dog population is pretty high around stations, [baiting] is one of those evil necessities that has to happen.

“It is always possible … it is not an issue we have had recently,” he said. 

Despite strict guidelines in place to prevent accidental poisoning, Mr Burleigh said: “If going somewhere like a station keep your animal on a lead so they don’t eat anything adversely.”

Seek medical attention if you think your dog has been poisoned, he said.