Kelso family wonders who is trying to kill their dogs
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KELSO, Wash. - A Kelso, Washington family said they recently discovered anti-freeze and meat stuffed with shards of glass in their backyard.
Bob Elder says the traps were clearly meant for his four dogs, who fortunately didn't find them and were not injured.
Elder said he found 20 pieces of sausage cut into identical pieces, with chunks of glass mixed in.
Elder said someone threw the deadly dog treats over his 8-foot tall fence.
Had a dog eaten a piece of the sausage, the glass shards could have cut up the dog’s intestinal tract during digestion, possibly causing the dog to bleed to death internally.
Elder also found a plastic bottle full of anti-freeze.
“Plastic bottles and sticks are their two favorite toys,” Elder said of his dogs. “[The suspect] would have to know that and they put the anti-freeze in there in hopes that the dog would bite through and kill them."
Anti-freeze is toxic and usually fatal to dogs and most animals if they drink it.
Elder said he hopes police can find some finger prints on the shards of glass.
He said he's planning on installing motion-sensing lights and cameras so if something like this ever happens again, he can catch the suspects in the act.
FOUR pitbull deaths in first 39 daysof 2013
Betty Todd killed by Her families pit bulls while babysitting.
http://www.wyff4.com/news/local-news/abbeville-greenwood-news/Deputies-Grandmother-killed-by-dog-while-babysitting/-/9654572/18065754/-/vnjyf3/-/index.html
http://banning-beaumont.patch.com/articles/91-year-old-woman-mauled-to-death-by-pit-bulls-in-hemet Woman was an artist in good health. So sad..
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8960900 4 yr old boy
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2013/02/19/outrage-after-2-year-old-killed-by-pitbull-in-texas/
http://occupymaulstreet.blogspot.com/2013/01/pit-bulls-should-they-be-called.htmlthis is why pitbulls should be called FLIGHT DOGS.
Wake up folks. Turn off the reality t.v. Those "stars" are PAID to promote pitbulls.. just like t.v. celebs promoted cigarettes for money for decades on the t.v. Wealthy dog fighters promote this fad because they don't have to worry about getting caught and can keep their barbaric sport going with pitbulls popularized. The it's the owner not the breed mantra sounds logical but it's not. This repetitive slogan is illogical. Other dog breeds owned in much greater numbershave equal chances of getting neglectful and abusive owners, yet they adapt to human shortcomings and don't maul people or pets at anywhere near the rate that pitbulls do.Mortality, Maiming and Mauling by Vicious Dogs, Annals of Surgery, April 2011, is study of dog injuries in hospitals spanning the last 15 years. The study found that you have a more than 2500 times higher chance of dying if attacked by a pitbull. The statistics on pitbulls seriously harmingpeopleat a much higher rate than other dogs are overwhelming. You can't love out genes or untrain genes. Family owned and loved pitbulls can turn on a dime.If you believe that pitbulls are just like any other dog, and regurgitate the false "its the owner not the breed mantra" you might of believed the world was flat, too Just because something sounds good doesn't make it true.
I totally condemn this evil act. While watching the video I noticed he has some "talkers" amongst his dogs. I would speculate this crime was perhaps done by someone who lives nearby who is annoyed with barking, yet has perhaps never tried to talk with the owner about this (if it is a problem). I have always been mindful of my dogs when I have had a talkative one, and not left them barking unattended out in the yard to avoid annoying neighbors and to avoid my dogs becoming a target of a crime like this. Barkers belong inside unless you are home to supervise and quiet them down when outdoors. People who poison dogs deserve a serious beat-down. It takes a really psychopathic mind to do something as evil as this.
This is one side of the story - but what's the rest of the story? is it possible that the neighbors are terrified for their pets, and sick of having them killed by the pit bulls who "somehow" escape?
I don't know, it's just an idea, after all I'm just a man asking questions - but the scenario is rather common, unfortunately. Â
Is anyone shocked this happened in Kelso? I hope the owner catches him in the act and can utilize his right to bear arms.Â
I thought you are required to have a kennel licence for 3 or more dogs?
This is inexcusable. But I can't help but wonder if they were better neighbors and considerate of others if this problem might go away !
A coward kills an animal with torture. Regardless of the animals owners and their actions, Â I can't think of a single redeeming quality coming from a person who would put shards of glass in food.
@Bob McMasterson ~  Actually, a sociopath kills an animal with torture... but then, they are also cowards... good post..!
I just bet his dogs were barking constantly an driving the neighbors insane. Some people have no consideration for other people. I think you would get to the point of doing something lik that to stop them.Â
@redda Even if the dogs are being annoying, that's no reason to hurt them.  It's the OWNER they need to go after if they have a problem, not the dogs.  There's absolutely NO justification to hurt an animal like that.
This.
Trying to kill the dogs is a cowardly act. If you don't have huevos to go talk to him then you are a coward.
Incessantly barking dogs are a danger to ones mental health, just ask Son of Sam.
I had a neighbor with a dog that barked all the time and at all hours. One night the guy on the other side of me had enough, stepped out on his desk, and fired his shotgun in the air a few times. Never heard that dog bark at night again.
@deejm2112Â
The first time I saw my neighbor dog, he barked at me. I barked back louder. He still barks on occasion, but never at me.Â
Just put up a hunting blind and wait patiently.
Then when the varmint shows his ugly head...BLAM!!!
"Be vewwy, vewwy quiet...I'm hunting wabbits!" -- Elmer Fudd
I'm sorry this guy has neighbors who think they should be able to control what goes on with his dogs. I am also amused by the comments on how he keeps his backyard and how many dogs he owns.
This used to be a country where people had personal freedom. Evidently it has become a country where other people want to dictate what your backyard looks like and how many pets you can have. So very wrong.
@Owt_Raged When I was growing up you were required to have a kennel licence to have 3 or more dogs. You could report them but you don't poison the dogs.
@Owt_Raged ~  I agree partly with you, Owt_Raged, but all of us need to remember that "with freedom, comes responsibility"...  I have 2 cats; I keep them indoors 24/7/365... mostly for their own safety and well-being, but also because I don't believe that my pets should be "free" to dig up and mess in other peoples' gardens, yowl and fight outside their windows at night, and/or leave muddy footprints all over their cars... Â
It's just a matter of basic respect and consideration for the other people who share our neighborhoods... it's a 2-way street...
@Owt_Raged
While I don't condone hurting an animal because of noise I have to agree that this guys freedoms should end when it begins to interfere with mine.Â
But a decent neighbor would not try and murder a pet. He/she would have a conversation about the animals and how the two (or many barking knows no fences) could work out a deal when the dogs would be inside so everyone could have times of quiet.Â
@Repoman Remove the word "try" from your second paragraph and I agree.
I adore dogs and would never condone harming one, but I do feel sorry for his neighbors. I lived next door to a lab that would would bark the minute his owners left for work in the morning and it would be nonstop until they came home at night. Talking to them did no good because they felt we were exaggerating since he was such a good dog whenever they were home. I wonder if he's been approached about the noise?
By the way, your backyard is a mess
@stinger139Â Why, because it's not all prissy and pruned and planted with petunias?
Maybe he'd think you're ugly and your mother dresses you funny.
But it's his back yard and he can do with it what he wants.
@Mikey @stinger139 A mud yard is no place for a dog or any animal.
dude you don't need all of those dogs. Get a life! If I was a neighbor of yours and had to listen to them bark all day and night, they would be finding anti freeze in your food.
@stinger139Â Â Wow. You must have super awesome Cap'n Crunch eyesight, pulling that information out of the story.
I sure wish I could make up facts to fit a story like you do!
Just from the picture, it looks like he's got neighbors that are fairly close-by...which could easily mean that there's a barking issue here...and with 4 dogs, that would be a considerable amount of noise... Â Even if that is the case, NOTHING excuses or justifies what someone was trying to do to these dogs..! Â Â Unless trained otherwise, these dogs are doing what comes naturally to them (running, playing, barking)... and if that's a problem, then there should be conversation with the dogs' owner; if no cooperation results, then a phone call made to Animal Control.
Flip side: Â Pet owners DO have a duty to respect their neighbors...and their neighbors' right to a reasonably peaceful existence, especially at night ..!
@margay1Â Well put. Both sides have a duty to be decent... One of the best lessons I learned as a young adult was never scold a neighbors children or pets. Have the Intestinal fortitude to treat the situation like an adult and discuss your grievance with the offending party.
Killing the pet is drastic and wrong. It is the OWNER who should be spotlighted. I have endured many a pet that, mentally, I wished would disappear.Friendly discussions, complaints to authorities, or law suits are rarely effective, and generally create a more disruptive atmosphere.
Fingers appear to point to a neighbor within barking distance. This can be a large radius around this friendly or not, possible chorus. One nonstop barking dog, especially a big one, is enough to drive anyone insane, but FOUR would be (?) especially if these are always âbackyard dogsâ, which incite any other dog within hearing distance, especially when the owner is not even home to hear it themselves.
Worse yet having multiple homes with barking dogs all around you.When a family or children cannot step foot in their own back yard, without a barrage of nonstop barking, or nonstop barking while trying to have a quiet nightâs sleep, is torturous and abusive of the right to quiet enjoyment of your own home.
@erudite You live in the wrong jurisdiction. The one I'm in responds vigorously to such complaints. If Kelso does not, the people who live there need to change it. Apparently they have not up to now. This does not give anyone the right to torture an annoying animal to death.
@ecb @erudite
Agreed! Point was that it is not the dogs fault. They are just being dogs. An owner is responsible for managed behavior. Care and vigorous training is necessary.
I taught my Airedale not to bark unless a threat was felt, or I gave her a command that it was an ok circumstance, even when I was not around. She was also taught sign language for her commands, which she watched for, respected. Approved behavior always met with rewards of copious love pats and treats.
WHY would somebody try to kill his dogs. Somebody wouldn't go to those lengths randomly. He either pissed somebody off or the dogs are a nuisanse.Â
Not right to kill the dogs either way but I doubt he really has no idea why this would happen.
@2012 Hope and Change  Regardless of the lessons life teaches men, some never have a clue.
Unfortunately for the rest of mankind, these seem to be increasing in number as time passes...surely hastening the end of our species.
From the video it looks like the dogs like to bark. It seems that KATU might only have investigated half the story.
And dogs that bark all the time should totally get tortured and killed? you are an idiot.
if the person has a problem with barking dogs then he should call animal control or the police or man up and talk to the neighbor.Â
I think it is wrong and very abusive behavior to destroy/kill the objects of his affection. Pets are like family. This man is being terrorized by someone. Perhaps they themselves believe their world is being destroyed by the dog's barking. Who knows, but, it is not respectful or mature or Godly to try and destroy his dogs. Moreover, the fact he has four shouldn't justify this abuse. If he is taking all of them to the nearest forest to romp around and expel their energy, fetch out of lakes, etc., then four can be totally relaxed for being well-cared for. Any incident such as this should be followed up with a call from the humane society who should interview all the neighbors as well as the owner, to assess the situation and make recommendations. Who knows, maybe a happy mediuym can be achieved  Â
Set wireless internet cameras high enough that the video will have a better view of the areas outside the fence. Those trees would be ideal except when the leaves come back The other option is to put up a higher fence if code allows it.Â
If I were in this guys shoes I would just go tell the ones he suspects a little story about an eye for an eye as in my dog is killed then of course the one that did the deed will not be around either.
If they bark continually and I was his neighbor, I would consider doing something if the owner refused to do anything about it. Â But, it would be quick and humane. Â There are very few things more annoying or worthless than a dog that barks all the time.
@Shadow quick and humane means you would go TALK WITH THE OWNER like a adult instead of killing innocent dogs like a sociopath, right?
@Shadow Um, if you're so quick to jump to injuring or killing the dogs - you should seriously think of seeking psychiatric assistance.
@Shadow If your neighbor's dog is annoying you with excessive barking, you call Animal Control - you don't kill the dog. Lordy! You sound more and more like a lunatic every time you post...
@Shadow I can think of one.
He doesn't have grass for them to play on. 4 playing dogs can make a lot of noise, but trying to kill your neighbors dogs is just plain wrong.
@Luckylucy cedar shavings or sawdust or pea gravel would be an improvement.
He has too many dogs.Â
@sortbait  No he doesn't.
He has too many neighbors.
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@TheUglyTruth Regardless of if they bark all the time or not, going to such lengths to kill the dogs is ridiculous. Call Animal Control instead...Â