Police Dog Poisoned in PA - Page 1

The GSD was apparently poisoned with antifreeze but happily is expected to recover.

"GLASSPORT, Pa. -- Allegheny County police are trying to figure out who poisoned a police dog in Glassport.

Glassport Deputy Police Chief Shawn Deverse woke up on Monday to find his partner, a German shepherd named Zen, had been poisoned.

Deverse noticed Zen was acting strangely and when he took a closer look at the dog’s outdoor kennel, Deverse found a green puddle of anti-freeze and a rag hanging over the dog's fence.

Deverse said he called a veterinarian and they tested the dog’s blood for toxins. The results showed that Zen had consumed a high level of toxic chemicals.

The veterinarian said anti-freeze has a sweet taste, which can be appealing to dogs.

Zen spent Monday night on dialysis at AVETS in Monroeville, where the animal underwent more than five hours of dialysis.

The dog is expected to recover, but Deverse said this was a very personal crime.

"Somebody came into my home, and I got kids as well, and this dog is part of my family. It's like one of my kids," Deverse said.

The mayor of Glassport is setting up a reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person responsible."

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/cnn-news/20914391/detail.html

There's video of the dog, too.

Hey Tess,
I'm glad the dog is going to be ok.  That is horrible.  There are lots of sick people out there.  If I was that Officer I'd install cameras on my property.  I've had dope dealers make threats to me, they've described my personal vehicles and my house.  When I was in Narcotics I did and investigation into several high end dope dealers that took several months and developed into a large scale investigation that went Federal.  We had a jail house informant tell us that the main target was planning on having my partner and I killed on our way home from the first court hearing.  Well the main target plead and got a deal; he only has to serve 40 years in Federal prison, another guy got a life sentence and a third guy got 18 years.  In Federal prison you serve every day, the main target should be about 85 when he gets out. 

I really feel bad for this K9 officer and the dog.  When this stuff comes to your house it is very personal and very upsetting.  When you put some one in jail for a few years it gives them plenty of time to think of stupid things to do.  I don't remember a 1/3 of the guys I've arrested; but they always remember me. 

Hopefully, they'll catch the POS.

Jim

We treated a poor GSD that unfortunately got the poisoning that was meant for a PSD. The jerks threw it in the wrong kennel, and the family dog got it instead of the PSD. It was metaldehyde (slug/snail bait). It was horrible. She siezed and siezed and siezed. We got her through it, but she was left brain-damaged from the siezures. Was extremely fearful of any movement/noise; no longer recognized her family, ect. We ended up putting her down. Her body survived it, but her mind was gone.  The perps that were suspected had been busted with a large amount of drugs thanks to the PSD, and they wanted revenge.

 

Glad this dog is treatable.

I'd been about to post this article myself when I saw that Tess had beaten me to it!  I'm so glad that the dog was brought to the vet in time, and is recovering.  I hope this doesn't mean the end of his days on the beat, but that kind of poisoning can really do a lot of long-term damage.  He might be prone to kidney problems now, and he might be retired.  At least the K9 officer treats him like family, and keeps him at home like he would a pet.  If I were him, I'd put up a brick or wooden fence around the kennel, so no one can jam soaked rags in between the kennel mesh!

I hope the idiot who did this is identified and prosecuted. There are at least three felonies her, depending on whether PA has animal cruelty as a felony charge. Someone knows something about this, because such idiots often brag about it.

Poor dog!  I can only hope & pray that his recovery is complete.  And I also hope and pray that the person(s) responsible for this atrocity get what they have coming to them!  Scum!

This is awful .I just heard some idiots are planning to poison my  towns stray cats .They are going to use anti freeze .its all supposed to be a big secret .I cant get names of any one who is going to do it . I find this reckless to all animals and kids in the neighborhood .I will be making a phone call to the humane society .Not some thing i am fond of being (a phone snitch ).Some folks just suck i guess.

Okie Amazon (great name, btw) and Jim, what awful stories.

I found an update today that the dog is going home, but nothing more than that.  Also found out that some, obviously not all, antifreeze makers actually put something in it these days so that it doesn't taste sweet to dogs & cats.  

Mystere, agreed - somebody knows who did this, and I hope they call it in.

In one of the updated stories, it said that the guy took his kids to school in the morning and when he came back he noticed the rag - could it have been done in the morning then?  Which would explain why the dog didn't bark like crazy if someone came in the dark:

"I came out about quarter after eight to take my kids to school and came up past the dog's cage and dropped them off," Deputy Chief Shawn Deverse said. "About 15 minutes later when I was coming home, I noticed a rag on the far corner of the cage there – it was kind of hanging in, dripping down."

So sounds like someone near by.