TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Several wildlife and family dogs are dead in a likely poisoning in the Tucson area.
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, the Arizona Game and Fish Department issued a warning to pet owners about the deaths.
AGFD said officers found 14 coyotes, three javelinas, and a raven dead this past weekend. They were found in the Pantano Wash, located east of Houghton and west of Old Spanish Trail.
“I suspect the poison is either strychnine or another fast-acting poison based on the appearance of the stomach contents,” said Dr. Anne Justice-Allen, the AGFD wildlife veterinarian.
13 News spoke to Fritz Neuhauser, who lost his dog Luigi to the poison. Luigi went missing on a walk late last week and a few days after the first few animals were found. He was with his neighbor, who’s dogs also went missing.
“We really got upset and were really looking. It was probably 30, 40 minutes into it when my friend got a phone call and another dog walker had found his dog dead on the trail.”
By this point, Neuhauser was very worried and was trying to find Luigi using an air tag. He got a ping, but wasn’t able to find him. Unfortunately, he didn’t get another until Sunday afternoon.
“I got another ping. Only the second ping in four days. Somebody had walked near enough to my dog. I saw it on the satellite and came down and I found my dog.”
Neuhauser tells 13 News this all started just before Luigi went missing, on January 21 when he found a few animals dead on his property.
From there, he contacted Arizona Game and Fish and together they found more than a dozen other animals killed by the poison.
AGFD said that based on a necropsy on one of the javelinas, the poison was likely placed in food to attract wildlife and dogs. While officers have not found bait sites, they are continuing to investigate and testing is ongoing.
“This is a popular area for residents to hike with their dogs,” AGFD said in a release. “Dog owners are advised to keep their pets on a leash, and keep them from picking up anything on the trail or in the wash.”
Some of the signs of poisoning include salivation, seizures, and collapse.
If your pet eats anything off of the ground in the area, you should seek immediate veterinary care.
Anyone with information should call AZGFD’s Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-800-352-0700.
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