Slight field trip south for some alarming news. Here's the email I received:
At least three different people today [Sunday, June 6th], at different times, found evidence of rat poison at Stanton Park -- adjacent to the area frequented by off-leash dogs.
At 5:00pm, I found a small open bag of d-CON rat poison under one of the four benches on the 6th Street side of the dog area. It was a yellow bag and the pellets are greenish-blue. Ants were crawling on the pellets.
Next to another one of those benches on the sidewalk and in the nearby grass, I found at least two cup-fulls of rat poison pellets. I swept up as much as I could but was not able to get all of the pellets out of the grass.
If there's a rat problem, the District does safer rat abatement (those little black boxes). Obviously watch your dogs if you are headed to Stanton Park. But I'd like to point out that not only dogs, but also small children, could potentially ingest poisons just left out like this. Stanton Park is located at 5th and C.
12 comments:
Wow that's awful, there's some good Pet First Aid info here http://www.akc.org/public_education/emergency.cfm should people need it, and I hope no one does. I also hope this isn't related to over hyped dogs vs kids (Strollers) issue (if it actually is and issue). This prob the work of a kids or a sick adult.
Now back to Tom Lehrer.
-Robby
I'm sure (well, okay, not sure, but hope) it was someone trying unsuccessfully to do a good deed.
Unfortunately Christine, there has been a rash of dog poisonings around Capitol Hill - about six dogs have been killed since March. This is not a mis-guided good deed, but someone who hates dogs and doesn't want them to see them in public spaces. And, as someone else pointed out, the potential for hurting children is also deeply disturbing.
@anon
"This is not a mis-guided good deed, but someone who hates dogs and doesn't want them to see them in public spaces."
I realize that this one has already gone judge/jury/executioner through the infallible dog set; but why would you put the poison under benches if you wanted to poison dogs? If this pederast sociopath scumbag criminal wanted to kill dogs why not put it in the dog area?
Personally I think this is part of a greater plot involving raccoons and opossums.
That or a homeless person found some rat poison and is tired of rats living under his bed.
Because dogs go underneath benches, but people do not.
I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt. maybe they just want to kill the squirrels. I hate the damn squirrels.
In the past -- like, 10 years ago and more -- some agency would put poison of some kind into the rat holes of Stanton Park, which at the time were generally near the bushes around the circle (the rats were there feeding on leftovers from people feeding birds, crumbs from the playground, and feces). I can't imagine they use a consumer rat poison for this, but maybe they are, and some packets were dragged up to the surface.
Maybe it is the guy who keeps kicking the bejesus out of the park benches breaking the boards.
I'm pretty sure no agency is putting these out. If it is someone with good intentions, that person must be a tad off. As previously mentioned, there have been six suspected (confirmed?) dog poisonings on the Hill since March. Whoever is doing this either intends to kill something larger than rodents, or is acting in a dangerously negligent manner that is really probably criminal.
If this keeps on it can only be a matter or time before a child accidentally ingests a pellet. As pointed out on The Hill is Home, these pellets can look like candy to small children.
Sounds like a bit of fear mongering. What were these six cases of dog poisonings? What were the circumstances. Has anyone actually called DPW to find out if the Stanton Park situation was done by the city? Or are we just making unsubstantiated allegations about serial dog killers prowling the streets of Cap Hill to poach your pooch?
I was citing someone else's numbers. Regardless, we have someone putting poison out so that children and dogs can easily get to it. That's scary.
Call me jaded, but I'm convinced someone did this on purpose. That person should be fed rat poisoning.
ro: At least two of the dog poisoning cases were discussed in detail on the MPD-1D mailing list, so if you check the archives you'll find the discussion. An owner of a dog that was killed participated in the discussion, describing in some detail the dog's deterioration and death.
Hope this helps.
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