The Hong Kong dog poisoner strikes again

I'll start off by easing your worries, Bailey wasn't one of the dogs that was poisoned, but even though it has nothing to do with me, Mark or Bailey, the story is an odd and fascinating one, so I thought it was worth telling on my blog.

Hong Kong has been plagued by a crazy person (or persons) who has been laying poison bait along popular dog walking paths for the past 18 years!!!!! So far, 22 dogs have died, and hundreds of others have been poisoned and survived. Mark and I were warned about the dog poisoner when we first moved to Hong Kong and we are as vigilant as possible with our garbage eating beagle. However, I think the only real answer is to not walk Bailey in the popular dog walking areas. That's not such a hard task these days since Bailey still can't walk more than 1 block, but I do fear for all our other dog friends out there.

(That's my boss Sue, her dog Charlie Brown, and Bailey on a walk back in January before Bailey's back surgery. The most recent poisonings happened along this very trail, although, not at this specific spot.)

All my friends back in Portland probably remember back in 2004 when someone left some poisoned meat in Laurelhurst Park and several dogs died. It's a similar story here, except the story never seems to end. The person leaves chicken or duck meat laced with insecticide along popular dog paths. No one has been able to get any leads on who's doing it, but there are signs posted all over warning dog owners of the poisonings.

I haven't heard of any poisonings for months, but just last week, March 22, a golden retriever became the latest victim - the fourth this week. Police have added special patrols and rewards of thousands of US dollars have been offered, but no leads at all. One dog was poisoned but survived this past week when the owner managed to pull most of the meat out of the dog's mouth before he swallowed it, and then rushed him to the vet. It's all very scary since the most recent poisonings were along the walking trail right near my boss's house where she walks her 2 dogs, Charlie Brown and Bam Bam. Poor Charlie and Bam are going to have to wear muzzles on their walks from now on since it's just not worth the risk.

So very sad.