A guide dog centre on Wednesday said it suspects that one of its canines died of poisoning, after the animal's abrupt passing at a mall earlier this month.

The Hong Kong Seeing Eye Dog Services said an autopsy of the dog, named Funny, showed that it was in good health before its death, and the centre may file a police report for further investigation.

In a statement, the centre said it wanted to dispel rumours that "overwork, heart disease and genetic factors" were possible causes of the dog's death.

It added that it was considering sending samples to the United States for lab tests, to better understand the suspected source of the poisoning.