(CN - HK) Villagers fear dog poisonings herald burglaries

[Guest guest]

South China Morning Post

 

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?\

vgnextoid=1cb5f1e14fc8e110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD & ss=Hong+Kong & s=News

by Phyllis Tsang

Jan 01, 2009

 

Residents of a Sai Kung village have urged the police to investigate a

series of suspected dog poisonings that they fear could have been committed

to set homes up for burglary.

Three dogs died, one survived an apparent poisoning and three went missing

in Pan Long Wan village last month.

 

Two of the dogs died suddenly after falling ill on a path where villagers

walk their pets every day and another was found dead in its owner's back

yard.

 

In addition, police figures show there was one other suspected poisoning

case in the Tseung Kwan O division - which includes Pan Long Wan - last year

and four in the second half of the year in neighbouring Sai Kung division,

at Tan Cheung, Nam Pin Wai, Tin Liu and Ngau Pui Wo.

 

No suspected dog poisonings were reported in either division in the previous

two years.

 

The deaths draw a distressing parallel with poisoning cases on Bowen Road in

Mid-Levels, where as many as 100 dogs have been killed since 1989, according

to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

 

Pan Long Wan resident Stanley Ling told how his two-year-old Labrador Mui

Mui began vomiting and shaking after a morning walk on a hillside path on

December 4 with his other Labrador, a male of the same age called Ka Ka.

 

" After the walk, Mui Mui acted abnormally at home, screaming, vomiting and

suffering from incontinence, " Mr Ling said. " I wanted to take her to the

animal hospital, but it was already too late. "

 

Mui Mui died about 90 minutes after the walk but Ka Ka was unaffected.

 

" It seems that there are some people following a plan of dog poisoning, "

said Mr Ling, who walked his dogs on the same path every morning. Mui Mui

was not muzzled and must have eaten something along the path, he said.

 

Another owner, a Mrs Lau, said her dog developed symptoms similar to Mui

Mui's on the same day after a walk in the village, but it recovered after

vomiting.

 

The next day a woman reported her dog had died in the rear garden of her Pan

Long Wan home, but a police spokesman said there was no evidence that it had

been poisoned.

 

" We are wondering if there are people poisoning dogs to set up their owners'

homes for holiday-season burglaries, " Mrs Lau said.

 

Police said they were very concerned about cruelty to animals and said all

reported cases would be dealt with seriously.

 

But there was no evidence the poisonings were linked to burglary or any

other crimes.

 

Police and the SPCA recently distributed leaflets and posted warning notices

at villages in the Pan Long Wan area urging precautions against animal

poisoning.

 

Animal Earth chief officer David Wong Kai-yan said that together with Bowen

Road, Sai Kung was a black spot for dog poisoning.

 

He said he hoped the police would investigate dog poisonings seriously.

 

The SPCA has offered a reward of HK$160,000 for information leading to the

conviction of the Mid-levels dog poisoner since 2007 and the reward is still

in effect.