Special Alert! Contribute to the Marin Humane Society's Animal Cruelty Conviction Fund!

August 14, 2007

http://www.marinhumanesociety.org/AboutUs/specialalert.html

Special Alert!

The Marin Humane Society is currently investigating the suspicious deaths of 3 dogs in Mill Valley on Tuesday, August 7. The dogs, belonging to neighbors near Mill Valley's Oakdale Avenue, were taken for a morning walk on a trail above Marin City and died later that afternoon after suffering seizures and high temperatures. Toxicology test results confirm the cause of death as strychnine-laced gopher bait.

3 year old Ajax

13 year old Nick and 11 year old Stella

The Marin Humane Society urges all dog guardians to be aware of their surroundings and to keep their dogs under close supervision, especially around the areas of Oakdale and Elinor Avenues in Mill Valley and the Alta Trail in Marin City.

Call your veterinarian immediately if you suspect that your pet has been exposed to or ingested anything toxic! Symptoms of poisoning include heavy panting, seizures, stiffness and hyperactivity.

Contribute to the Marin Humane Society's Animal Cruelty Conviction Fund!

A reward of more than $30,000 is being offered by the Marin Humane Society, other animal welfare organizations and individuals for information leading to an arrest and conviction of persons responsible for the deaths of Ajax, Nick and Stella. Your contribution to the Animal Cruelty Conviction Fund will be used directly to support MHS animal cruelty investigations. Click here to donate online. Be sure to write " Animal Cruelty Conviction Fund " in the Comments section. Or, call (415) 506-6257.

If you have any leads or would like additional information, please call Captain Cindy Machado at (415) 506-6209. Or click here to contact us online.

Thank you for your patience as we continue to investigate this serious matter.

Toxicology Report: Poison Pellets Kill Three Mill Valley Dogs

Jim Staats

Marin IJ (08/10/2007)

Three Mill Valley dogs died of strychnine poisoning that officials suspect was intentionally placed on a popular walking trail above Marin City.

Toxicology test results from two of the three dogs confirmed the cause of death as strychnine-laced gopher bait, consistent with a grain-like substance found in the stomachs of all three animals during examination, said Capt. Cindy Machado of the Marin Humane Society.

" We've confirmed it was intentional, not accidental, " she said. " Gopher bait is a vegetarian product not normally eaten by meat-eating animals. "

She said a meat-like pet food inconsistent with food provided by the dog owners, " tells me this gopher bait was placed in pet food, specifically targeted for dog or (other) meat-eating animals to eat. "

" It's a seed-based vegetarian product geared towards rodents, " Machado said.

The dogs belonging to families in Mill Valley's Oakdale Avenue neighborhood died Tuesday after a local dog walker took them on the Alta trail above Donahue Street in Marin City. All three pets died after suffering seizures.

An investigation into the deaths by the Marin Humane Society, with assistance from the Mill Valley Police Department, deputies from the Marin County Sheriff's Office and members of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, included door-to-door canvassing of the Mill Valley neighborhood and warning signs posted at various Marin City entrances to the miles of walking trails.

Machado said the fast-acting strychnine narrows the investigation to the trail rather than the Mill Valley neighborhood, " but we're still not ruling out the neighborhood just to be cautious. "

" The time frame for strychnine is very sudden, " she said, noting the dogs were picked up in Mill Valley at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday to go for a walk, with the first dog experiencing seizures around 12:30 p.m and another two hours later. " Ten minutes to a couple of hours from the time of ingestion (strychnine poisoning usually hits). "

Machado said it's possible the three large dogs that died " just got to the substance " before four other dogs on the same hike. The other dogs were not sickened.

" These three dogs were the dominant food hounds, " she said.

Mill Valley residents and visitors to the county's bevy of dog parks and walking trails expressed shock and concern Friday.

Mill Valley resident Celyn McGuinness watched with an anxious eye as her 3-month-old black Labrador, Teal, frolicked at Mill Valley's Boyle Park, several blocks from the Oakdale Avenue neighborhood.

" I'm definitely concerned, especially with a puppy, " she said. " I'm keeping my eye out. "

McGuinness' pup tumbled in the grass with a 4-month-old border terrier, Blossom, owned by a 42-year-old Mill Valley resident who gave his name as Rob - and declined to provide his last name " because I don't want to have them put poison in our yard. "

" Hopefully, it was just a poisoned rodent they all got into, " he said.

Fred Miller, a resident of Mill Valley's Blithedale Canyon, said this week's incidents prove you can never be too cautious about what goes in a dog's mouth.

Of the recent deaths, Miller said, " I guess you don't know until you test, " as he and wife, Keitha, and their two young white cotons, Fanny and Stella, enjoyed the dog park section of Bay Front Park.

" Three dogs licking the same thing would be very unusual, " Miller said. " It brings out my cynicism. "

San Francisco resident Billie Goldman, 27, said the recent deaths brought her to the safe confines of Bay Front Park rather than her regular routine of trails in Tennessee Valley and Phoenix Lake with her black Labrador, Pete, and Wheaten terrier, Cheeto.

" Usually I would take them on different trails, but now I'm coming here and looking for signs because you don't know what is going on, " she said. " It makes you wonder if the water is clean. It definitely makes me nervous. "

The Marin Humane Society has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to resolution of the case. Officials ask anyone with information to call 506-6209.