Hot dogs stuffed with pills left for dogs in Courtenay, B.C.
Tainted wieners found on Headquarters Road near signs warning dog owners to keep their pets home
Dog owners in Courtenay, B.C., are being warned that someone may be trying to poison their pets.
The B.C. SPCA was contacted on Wednesday after hot dogs stuffed with pills were found along Headquarters Road. Local staff were sent out to investigate, and said the first thing they saw were several signs with a picture of a dog.
"Basically it was just saying if this your dog, keep it home. And then this member of the public was walking along and found five or six large pieces of hot dog, which when cut open had probably between four and six large pills inside," said B.C. SPCA Nanaimo & District branch manager Leon Davis.
The animal welfare organization is not sure what the pills are, so Davis said it is asking a pharmacist to help identify them. He says the B.C. SPCA has not received any reports of dogs being sickened, but it is concerned about the possibility.
"Not only other dogs going along and eating these pills and becoming sick, but there could be other animals, wildlife, children. So we wanted to warn the public," said Davis.
The organization has contacted the RCMP.
"We have alerted the RCMP and they are taking over the case. We do have a lead on who may have been the person," said Davis.
"We're thinking the person who put these signs up may have some involvement or some knowledge about who left these hot dogs behind. So the RCMP are following the leads that we've given them."
Meanwhile, Davis says the B.C. SPCA staff are sweeping the area for other contaminated meat.
With files from the CBC's Keith Vass