Evandale dogs targeted with poison

Two dogs have died and at least one other is believed to have consumed bait in house yards in Evandale in the past week.

At least five attempted poisonings of dogs have been detailed in recent weeks through social media reports.

Pet owners in the town are fearful that someone is deliberately targeting dogs with what appears to be poisoned meat found in yards in Barclay St, Cambock Lane and Glover Court, all not far from the Evandale Primary School on the northern end of town. Another suspected bait find was made on the southern end of town.

Police are investigating the matter and anyone with information is urged to come forward (anonymously) by calling 131 444, or reporting to Crime Stoppers at crimestopperstas.com.au. 

On Saturday night the Johnston family returned home from a 21st birthday party at the Evandale Football Club to find their greyhound Maeve 7, deceased and after a frantic search they also found their whippet Jimmy, 2, deceased under a shrub.

Partially eaten sausages were also discovered in the yard - indicating that the dogs had fallen ill quickly before even fully consuming the food.

Understandably Heath and Bonita Johnston and their daughter Bree are devastated at the loss of their animals that they consider to be family.

“We also spent a long time picking up little pieces of meat that were scattered around - our granddaughter plays in the yard and if someone is throwing bait over fences there’s a chance a child could find it too,” Bonita said.

“Whatever was in it must have been pretty strong because it must have killed them in minutes and they had been dead for hours by the time we found them.”

Heath said while they had received one face-to-face complaint about their dogs barking at the fence several months ago, they set up cameras to see if they were barking excessively and found they only barked briefly when someone walked past the gate.

“We have them inside at night so it’s not like they bark all night to upset anyone - not that we know why someone would want to try to kill dogs in the area,” he said.

“Unfortunately the camera didn’t pick up anything on this particular night.”

After having their dogs cremated the Johnstons tried to find someone to test the remaining meat to see what it was laced with as well as reporting the matter to the RSPCA, Police and the Northern Midlands Council.

They are aware of one other dog that ate some minced meat that had been thrown in its yard but the owner caught it in the act before much was consumed. They are not aware of the outcome.

Concerned local resident Meg Chong is actively trying to warn townsfolk to check their yards for baits every morning before letting their dogs out - noting that the baits they know about were put out after dark.

“If there is someone local and disgruntled about barking dogs we need to be careful,” Ms Chong said.

“I’m printing up flyers to distribute to warn pet owners who aren’t on social media and ideally people would check their security camera footage to see if we can work out who is doing this.

The local Information Centre is working on a map to record any incident of pet poisoning and dozens of volunteers have come forward to help with printing and distribution of flyers.

Some residents are calling for a public meeting with Police in attendance to discuss the problem.

“If anyone finds any baits or sees something suspicious they should pass information on to the Police and let the council's animal control officer know on 0458 320 802,” Ms Chong said.