3 dogs killed by poison
Sublimity, OR (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Dec 30, 2006
County: Marion
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
Poison apparently caused the sudden deaths of three dogs belonging to a Sublimity-area family last weekend, state officials said.
Necropsies conducted at Oregon State University found cooked meat blended with greenish-tinged grains inside the dogs' stomachs. All died within a span of two days.
The grain resembled poisonous gopher bait and was sent to Michigan State University for analysis. Results should be back within two weeks
"It looks like they got into something that did poison them," said Rose Kachadoorian, the coordinator of the state's Pesticide Analytical and Response Center. "It's unknown if they were the target or not."
The Oregon Department of Agriculture has opened an investigation into the incident.
"When you have three dogs die within such a short time period, it's pretty suspicious," said Christiane Löhr, the veterinary pathologist who conducted the necropsies. "Now that we've found the grain in the stomach, it raises the suspicion even more."
The dogs' owner, Valarie Baker, think her pets were intentionally poisoned. The dogs were Mickey, a 10-year-old Rottweiller cross; Snowy, a 6-year-old husky; and Dreamer, a 3-year-old Labrador cross.
"Where we're situated, in our minds, this isn't an accident," said Baker, whose property on Neal Road is adjacent to Silver Falls State Park. "You have to come off the highway on a private drive. You can't see our house from the road. We have one immediate neighbor, and other than that it's Christmas tree farms."
Even if the dogs were poisoned by a pile of bait-laced meat meant to kill some other animal, the perpetrator still could face charges, Kachadoorian said.
"Use of gopher bait above ground is illegal," she said. "You're not allowed to use pesticides that way, if this is proven to be a pesticide."
The necropsies found handfuls of the greenish grain in Dreamer's stomach, Baker said.
"What Dreamer had in his stomach was more than three times the amount someone would be allowed to buy without a license," she said. "Whoever did this would have had to have a license."
Snowy died first, around 2 a.m. Dec. 29, suffering from seizures. She had gone out late the night before with Mickey, who didn't return home. The Bakers found Mickey dead in their back yard later that morning.
The Bakers drove to Salem on Dec. 29 to report the dogs' deaths to the Marion County Sheriff's Office. They kept Dreamer on a leash for a day, playing with him and keeping him occupied.
"He'd lost his companions," Baker said.
But when Dreamer wanted to go out Dec 30, they decided it would be OK.
Dreamer returned a short while later and flopped onto his bed. Within a few minutes, he tried to get back up, collapsed and soon died.
On New Year's Day, the Bakers loaded up the remains and took them to Oregon State University in Corvallis, determined to find out what killed their dogs.
Baker said some workers at a next-door Christmas tree farm regularly taunted the dogs. About a month ago, she and her husband told the workers to leave the dogs alone and complained to the farmer who employed them. Baker said she suspects the workers had something to do with the death of her dogs.
Carl Meseck, the owner of Silver Ridge Christmas Tree Farm, said he didn't have any problems with Baker and is surprised at her accusations. However, he said the dogs were a nuisance, but he didn't think the workers, hired through a contractor, would have poisoned the animals.
"They roam all over the joint," he said. "They could have picked up that stuff anywhere."
The employees were contracted through Eric Dahl, a Silverton-area labor contractor. Dahl said the workers haven't worked on the farm since Dec. 15, 14 days before the first dog died.
He added he doesn't use poisons and questioned how the workers could have obtained the bait. References« OR State Animal Cruelty Map
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