It started with a threat.
About a week ago, an old man said he was going to poison the Nanshan apartment complex’s barking dogs, according to a report carried by the Shenzhen Evening News .
The apparent result was captured on December 28 in a disturbing video: a husky lays on its side, flipping its legs wildly, spreading the blood dripping from its mouth across the ground.
“I went over and held my dog, found it had urinated and defecated. Its tongue had become purple and it was drooling,” said Ms. Chen. The dog died before reaching a veterinarian, becoming one of already five dog deaths connected to the Da Chong New City apartment complex’s third-floor outdoor area.
Chewed bones were later discovered in the apartment complex’s grass, which Chen believes carried the poison.
Police responded, but said that since the nature of the deaths can’t be said with certainty, there is no way to continue an investigation.
“We can’t judge what caused the death without a professional autopsy,” said Dr. Wang who treated two of the dogs at the United Pet Hospital in Nanshan. “But based on the way [Chen’s dog] died there is a more than 95 percent chance it was poisoned.”
“I’ve heard that there are people praising the people who did this,” said Ricardo Silva, a dog owner who has lived in the apartment complex for about six months. “But if a dog can reach it, a kid can reach it. This happened right next to a kids' park.”
Silva said he understood people may not like dogs, but said they should speak to the dog owners directly. He also expressed hope the apartment complex would set aside a dog area.
The property management office refused to answer a reporter’s questions yesterday, though the management office posted a notice in the elevators reading: “Recently we have received notice from residents about the death of dogs, we are sorry about the deaths and will take action to clean up and check the complex.” The letter also encourages residents to report anything suspicious.
Dr. Wang said that during his seven years of work in Shenzhen, he had found dog poisonings to be quite common, explaining he had treated a suspected case two days earlier from a different neighborhood. He also described two days in 2013 that saw eight dogs die from suspected poisonings.
“The real way to stop this is to cover a dog's mouth,” said Dr. Wang, advice Silva has decided to follow.
“Of course I will muzzle him from now on.”
[Images via Tencent News, The Shenzhen Evening News and The Southern Metropolis Daily]
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