Canton

Dog Owners Concerned After Potentially Deadly Food Found Scattered Around Canton Park: Animal Control

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It took years to get dogs a place to play in Canton, but over the weekend it appears someone tried to get them sick.

The town’s animal control officer Beverly Laplume says she got a report that visitors found what could be deadly for dogs, chocolate, scattered throughout the park.

“It wasn’t like somebody dropped a candy bar; it was found there. It was broken up and purposefully spread,” said Laplume, animal control officer for Canton and Avon.

“As you can see from the woodchips, dark chocolate would kind of disappear,” said Natalie Travers, showing us around the park.

She’s the president of Friends of Canton Dog Park, the non-profit that keeps up the park.

While volunteers have cleaned up what they can find, they’re warning owners to be careful.

“This is potentially fatal to dogs, so this is a real bad act,” said Travers.

“It’s not fair to the dogs. If there’s a problem, be grownups about it and address it like a grown up,” said Travers.

Eamon Clohessy’s dog Olive looks forward to her time at this park.

“Dogs love it. It’s like Disneyland for dogs,” said Travers.

But Olive's owner will be keeping an extra eye on her during their visit.

“She has a sniffer on her that will detect anything,” said Clohessy of Avon.

Residents said this isn’t the only disappointment at the park recently.

Travers says the past couple of days someone tore up a park sign, scattered suspicious dog food around the park, and destroyed their parking area too.

“It’s shocking honestly because this such a good time and everyone is so nice who comes here,” said dog owner and park visitor Alyssa Paradis of Canton.

Despite the damage, dog owners showed their support.

“All us dog lovers, we stick together a little bit, especially when something like that happens. It’s disgusting it really is,” said Clohessy.

The animal control officer says she’ll be increasing her patrols in the area. Meanwhile, organizers of Friends of Canton Dog Park say they’ll be fundraising for enhanced security too.

“It’s sad to think that somebody would do this to an innocent animal that’s just here to play,” said Laplume.

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