New Haven police are investigating suspicions that someone may have intentionally poisoned dogs in an East Rock neighborhood.
The investigation began when a resident in the area reported he believed his dog ate contaminated cat food that someone put in his back yard on Clark Street.
The caller said it began last month when he took his dog and a neighbor’s dog outside for a walk. He told police he let the dogs free in a fenced in area of the rear yard, where the dogs found and ate cat food out of containers left in the yard. The caller said he took the food from the dogs immediately, but the next few days, he noticed his dog appeared sick. He took the dog to the veterinarian, who treated the animal as if it had been exposed to rat poison. The vet told the caller that the neighbor’s dog had also been treated for similar symptoms.
According to the neighbors, the cat food had been left in Tupperware containers in the area and had some kind of foreign material in it. Police seized samples of the cat food found in the yard and it will be tested for poison.
Investigators are also checking surveillance in the neighborhood to try to find out how the food ended up in the yard.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information should contact Officer Joseph Manganiello at the Robin I. Kroogman New Haven Animal Shelter at 203-946-8110.
