SAN JOSE, Calif. — An incident where a dog owner’s pet went from perfectly healthy to violently ill during a visit to a popular San Jose dog park over the weekend has led authorities to issue a warning about possible poisoning.
Butcher Park on Camden Avenue in the Cambrian neighborhood was closed Monday after the pet died a sudden and mysterious death.
Butcher Park is considered one of the most popular dog parks in San Jose, but pet owners going there Monday evening found the gates locked and a posted sign that warned owners poisoned bait may have been left on the premises.
Jennifer Tian had her dog named Collin for only six weeks. She adopted the three-year-old Shiba Inu from a dog rescue agency.
On Saturday afternoon during only her second visit to the park, Tian watched her dog vomit and collapse. She rushed him to the veterinarian, but he later died in her car.
He was gagging and his stomach was undulating and then he fell to the floor on his stomach, remembered Tian.
Tian said her dog was healthy, but something happened at Butcher Park.
“I think he ate something. Also the vet, after the whole resuscitation, said because of the vomiting that it’s an indication that he might have eaten something toxic,” said Tian.
Two months ago someone left rat poison in a Sunnyvale dog park and also the scrawled words: “All dogs must die”.
This latest incident has dog owners in San Jose are frightened
“I think it’s just pathetic that people would poison a dog. It’s just family out here with their family members,” said dog owner Robin Hernandez.
“You just wonder why,” said San Jose resident Roger Sandula. “I don’t know whether someone has a grudge against the dogs or it was a personal thing.
“Tian was still suffering the pain of losing her pet when KTVU spoke with her Monday. Collin was the first dog she has ever owned. Though she had adopted him less than two months ago, dog would already wait at the door for her to come home each night.
“Being home the first time on Saturday after that, he wasn’t there and that’s a real shocker. Because that’s just a sign of Collin being gone,” said a tearful Tian.Animal control hopes to have the results of a necropsy by Tuesday night.
