Wisconsin: Police searching for the person who is placing hot dogs laced with nails around apartment complex

WISCONSIN -- A Sauk County 3-year-old Yorkie-mix is lucky to be alive after eating hot dogs, stuffed with nails.

'She's quite the handful but the greatest little puppy," Her dog-dad Tom Deakin said about 'Clarice.'

Monday morning, little Clarice took a few big bites of hot dog pieces she found littered on the ground of Canyon Pointe Apartments in Lake Delton.

'Thought it was kind of odd, in the back of my mind, I thought someone was trying to poison the dogs." Deakin said.

A short time later, Canyon Pointe Apartments issued a warning to property owners about 'food with nails' being found in common areas and staircases.

"If the allegations are true and that was the intent of what the person responsible was doing, I think it's horrible."  Lake Delton Police Lieutenant Bill Laughlin said.

He says he can't comment more on the pending investigation, but does say his detectives are speaking with a person of interest.

Hill-Dale Veterinary Hospital's Dr. Sam Steinich discovered six nails unable to pass through the ten pound pet.  She performed an emergency surgery on Clarice, Tuesday night.

"It just breaks our heart, we are shocked," Dr. Steinich said.  "It's so tough, I think the best advice is being conscientious of who or what is near your animal," she added.

Deakin agrees with Dr. Steinich.

He says he'll keep a closer eye on Clarice.

"No more hot dogs, that's for sure!" He said.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with vet bills:

Help Clarice
Created April 25, 2017 by jennifer ramos

Well to start off I recently moved from Milwaukee,Wisconsin to the Baraboo area for a job. Along with me on the move to baraboo were my two dogs, booker and clarice. Booker is a 9 year old Boston Terrier who has overcame challenging health issues. Clarice is a 4 year old Yorkie Terrier Mix who I adopted about one year ago from the Milwaukee Humane Society. Clarice is a very friendly and playful dog who can always put a smile on your face.

On 4/25/17 I received a call from management of the Canyon Pointe Apartments I live at. This call was to inform me that someone has placed small cut up pieces of hot dogs through the hallway of my building and outside grassy area. Inside these hot dog pieces were about 3-5 small finishing nails!!! Upon hearing this it immediately alerted me.

As I was letting my dogs out earlier that day I noticed my Yorkie (Clarice) eat 3 of the small hot dog pieces before I pulled her away. I didn't think much of the hot dogs and figured they fell out of someone's garbage or dropped by a small kids. I spoke with several other people who live in the same building as me and came to a conclusion that this incident was done on purpose to target dogs at the apartment.

I then took Clarice to the vet for an Xray which revealed 6 nails stuck inside her stomach and 1 somehow luckily on its way out. The option to leave then in her stomach and hope for a safe exit is too risky due to the sharp nails possibly puncturing holes inside her body. Surgery is the only reasonable option.

A police report was files regarding this incident.

My animals are like my children and I'd appreciate any donation or help.

Also thanks to Hill-Dale Veterinary Hospital for all their help with his horrible situation.

Update 1
These were the size of the nails inside her

Update 2
Post surgery all nails out! She was still drowsy from anaesthesia and now taken to Middleton vet for overnight monitoring.

Update 3
Clarice's first night back home. She's very scared and sad that she has to be restricted from playing until she heals. Thank you for all ur prayers and donations!!

(WKOW - April 26, 2017)

Pennsylvania: Cat Dies After Being Shot with Nail Gun in Doylestown Township

PENNSYLVANIA -- he Bucks County SPCA is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for injuring an orange tiger-striped cat found in Doylestown Township.

According to the SPCA, an unneutered adult male cat, appears to have been shot by a nail gun. The large, framing-style nails were found in the top of the cat's head, just over his right eye, in one cheek, and just over the right hip.

A resident found the cat in an open chest outside their home on Sunday January 3rd and called the Bucks County SPCA. BCSPCA Emergency Response picked up the cat and took him to the Lahaska Animal Care Center where he was stabilized and examined by a veterinarian.

 

The extent of his injuries was so great that the cat was humanely euthanized on the veterinarian's advice.

"The amount of suffering this cat endured at the hands of a human is completely unacceptable, and clearly against PA anti-cruelty laws" says Linda Reider, Executive Director of the Bucks County SPCA. "We are asking members of the public to contact us immediately with any information about this situation. With help from the community we can make sure the person or people responsible are held accountable."

If you have any information, please contact, Nikki Thompson at the  Bucks County SPCA, 215.794.7425, with any relevant information."

(Fox29 - Jan 8, 2016)

Dog finds tennis ball booby-trapped with nail at La Crosse park, owner says

WISCONSIN -- Coco is a greyhound mix who loves to chase tennis balls, so it’s no surprise that she confiscated one during a recent romp at the Houska Park dog park in La Crosse and took it home.

What was surprising — and appalling — to her master, John Storlie of La Crosse, was finding a nail embedded in the ball.

Although the culprit hasn’t been located, it apparently was someone bent on injuring a dog — or, perhaps, a human.

“I was really shocked. I wondered how this could happen,” said Storlie, who said he takes the 2½-year-old rescue dog to the park along the Mississippi River about once a week.

After the 55-pound Coco claimed the ball as her own, Storlie decided to use it to play fetch with her.

“She loves to chew on tennis balls, and it was rolling around in the car,” he said.

“I didn’t notice the nail until I went to wash the ball and saw a rusty tip sticking out,” Storlie said.

Investigating further, he pulled the nail out and discovered that it was as long as the ball’s diameter, he said.

“It had clearly been deliberately put there because the nail head was on the inside of the ball,” he said. “What kind of sick mind would do something like that and leave it at the dog park?”

Storlie checked Coco’s mouth, and she did not appear to be injured, unless, perhaps, she picked it up and dropped it right away if the nail stung her, he said.

“Or, if she was injured at the beginning and it healed,” he said.

Storlie sent an email to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, but he has not received a response. Parks officials could not be reached Tuesday.

“I’ve talked to family and friends, and they are appalled. My daughter said when we watch her dog, don’t take it to the dog park anymore,” said Storlie, principal scientist and managing member of his own company, The OS Group.

Kathy Kasakaitas, animal control protection and rescue supervisor at the Coulee Region Humane Society in Onalaska, said she hasn’t heard of such incidents locally but expressed concern.

“It upsets me on a couple of levels,” she said, adding, “No. 1, as a pet owner, and two, as one who tries to be a voice for the animals.”

Several area veterinarians also said they have not heard of such cases.

Similar instances — some real, others, hoaxes — of nails hidden in food, contaminated meat and treats laced with antifreeze have been noted on social media sites the past few years.

In a confirmed case in Lancaster, Pa., in October 2011, two large pieces of meat sabotaged with nails were found just outside the fence of a dog park, according to an Associated Press report.

A young girl and her father who had taken their dog to the park found the meat, police Lt. Todd Umstead said. Each had several framing nails “loosely attached” to their undersides.

The dog wasn’t injured because “it didn’t even touch the stuff,” Umstead said.

Several network TV news reports in recent years also have chronicled cases of dogs and cats dying from poisoned meat or treats at dog parks.

The damage that might result if a dog chomped down on a nail-implanted ball would depend on how hard the canine bites, said Dr. Douglas Kratt, a veterinarian at Central Animal Hospital in Onalaska.

“There could be lacerations, but the dog would feel it before it did a whole lot of damage” and drop the ball, he said.

If the dog kept chewing, he said, it could suffer a puncture of the tongue or roof of the mouth, perhaps even rupturing the nasal area.

Kratt cast doubt on the possibility that a dog would wolf down a nail, saying “Why would a dog swallow a nail?”

If one did so, it could cause internal lacerations, all the way to the intestines, he said.

Asked what a dog owner might do, such as trying to get the animal to vomit to dislodge the nail, Kratt said such a maneuver could cause more damage going back up than it did going down.

“If you are concerned about that,” he said, “contact your veterinarian immediately.

Local complaints about dog parks generally involve unruly dogs, Kasakaitas said.

“Dog parks are meant to be a good idea, but sometimes they are not a good idea because people are not focused on their dogs,” she said.

Some allow their pets to become aggressive without reprimand, she said. Sometimes, several dogs that routinely go to a park might gang up on a new visitor in a territorial dispute, she said.

“The biggest thing is that people should have their dogs under voice control and, if they don’t, to use a leash,” Kasakaitas said.

Anyone who happens to find a booby-trapped toy should call the Humane Society at 608-781-4014 or the local police department, she said.

If a perpetrator were located, he or she would be responsible for damages and veterinarian bills, she said.

(Journal Times - Dec 30, 2015)