This morning, I saw a hotdog in my yard. Since it had been unrefrigerated for who knows how long, I didn't let Jasmine over by it. (At 6am, I had her on a leash.) At 12:30pm, I was home for lunch and took Jasmine outside again. We wandered down to the end of the yard as I'm waiting to see if she had to poop. Then Jasmine comes across the hotdog again. She had it in her mouth. I told her to drop it and she did and told her "NO!" when she tried to go for it again. Then we went back in the house. I got a paper towel and picked up the hotdog. At that point, I noticed shiny things on the ends of the hotdog. They were stick pins! Grrrrrr!

Fortunately, yesterday, we were practicing "leave it" with Jasmine since she was having trouble relinquishing the frisbee so we could throw it again. We started giving her treats when she let go and it started getting better.

I found the hotdog near the yellow lab's kennel. Buddy is outside 24/7, even during the coldest days of last winter. Buddy's owner is a grumpy old man. At one point, he wanted to buy 6 feet of our lot so he could build a bigger garage. We said no, because DH didn't think the price was right. We don't know if he is still upset about that or not. We go down to say hi to Buddy now and then, but that is all. We would NEVER hurt Buddy although, sometimes he thinks we feed Buddy stuff, since Buddy gets loose poops. We have NEVER fed Buddy anything, since he is not our dog.

The guy was just introduced to Jasmine in the past week or so. What else is suspicious, is that Honey, our former dog, threw up pins once. Now, we are wondering if he was the cause of that, too. I'm so mad! The hotdog was found where someone could have stood near Buddy's kennel and thrown it. None of our other neighbor's would have such a big axe to grind.

We are wondering if Honey could have been poisoned by the jerk, since she died of liver failure. We also don't know if the hotdog I found today is poisoned or not. Good thing we don't go to his house for Halloween, huh?

Called the cops about 2pm this afternoon. Someone came to talk to DH about 15 minutes later. Cop just shook his head, apparently. We are just supposed to keep an eye on things. Neighbor and his dog are gone today. Man has a cottage up north somewhere. Cheap trick to do just before they leave, huh?

Good thing, Jasmine knew I meant business today with "leave it!"

By Hol on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 09:06 pm:

Wow,Dawn, that is SCARY! And you have to live near this guy! I would say, tho the evidence is circumstantial, that he is probably the person, especially since he just met Jasmine. And, the fact that Honey once vomited pins! What a sicko!!! And POOR Buddy. That's no life, being outside all the time. Why have him?

As far as him poisoning Honey...maybe. I WAS surprised that she became ill and died so quickly, since she wasn't that old. Too bad that you didn't have an autopsy done, tho at the time, you probably didn't suspect foul play.

Didn't the police take it seriously? How convenient that he went out of town right after!! Is Jasmine ever outside alone?

Thank goodness for your vigilance and Jasmine's obedience. (((HUGS))) to you AND Jasmine.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 09:13 pm:

Do you still have it? And good thing you spotted it before she did.

By Palmbchprincess on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 09:41 pm:

That is so horrible!! What an evil thing to do!!

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 09:50 pm:

OMG! I'm glad you called the police. Document EVERYTHING, take pics, keep the evidence if possible and keep a close eye on things. Times like this you wish you could mount a video camera.

By Children03 on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 10:07 pm:

If you still have the hot dog, can you take the hot dog and have it tested for any poisions? Then at least you would know. How upsetting this must be for you.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 11:56 pm:

We still have the hotdog. DH had it in the garbage, but we put it in the freezer so we can take a picture of it tomorrow. Where would we get it tested? Jasmine doesn't always listen, but she definitely took me seriously this afternoon.

The whole thing is just weird.

By Hol on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 01:11 am:

I would send it to your state health department, to be analyzed for poison. If it comes back contaminated, I would think that you have the basis to press criminal charges. You may anyway, with the stick pins.

By Texannie on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 01:29 am:

Your vet could probably test it.

By Emily7 on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 01:48 am:

I agree with Annie, take it to your vet. I can't believe people will do things like that.

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 02:29 am:

We could try that.

By Feona on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 05:56 am:

stick pins.... good for you for calling the police.

Honestly, I would think about moving... Definitely never leave the kids by themselves at all. We had a pervert across the street, but he finally moved. Really scary.

By Marg on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 06:17 am:

You may also want to call the Humane Society

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 09:34 am:

What would the Humane Society do about it?

By Marg on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 09:51 am:

Well, specifically this was meant for an animal.

Police rarely do things about animal abuse. I believe you just call and report it. They may investigate this neighbor.

By Melana on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 10:11 am:

well, if they find he's been cruel to his animal(s) then they'll take his dog away, and if it's a big city he could be charged with cruelty to animals.

By Rayanne on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 10:53 am:

That is so sad. I can't believe someone would do that. I agree, get it tested. Let us know if you find anything out.

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 12:33 pm:

Well, he seems to take good enough care of his dog. He does clean out the kennel. Buddy looks to be in great shape and he does play with Buddy occasionally, tossing a frisbee or a tennis ball. I don't know what they do together when he goes to the cottage.