Warning sign at Colorado Springs dog park concerns residents, prompts investigation
A sign was posted at the Bear Creek dog park in Colorado Springs this week warning dog owners of toys baited with poison, and many residents posted comments on social media horrified at the prospect of their dogs being poisoned.
But local animal enforcement hasn’t found any evidence backing up the sign’s claim, and the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region says several stories like these have been claimed in the past few months, but they’ve all been unfounded.
The sign says “Yesterday at the other dog park, a beautiful Golden Retriever picked up a toy that was left behind. The toy was baited with Poison! The dog died within 1 hour.”
The sign doesn’t specify which dog park this alleged incident occurred at. Moreover, the alleged poisoning was never reported to HSPPR, and the organization said it first started investigating after the sign was brought to their attention.
Despite the lack of details, many pet owners aren’t taking chances — a picture of the post has been shared on several local Facebook pages, and people at the park were thankful for the warning.
“It’s absolutely surprising, I’m so glad someone put up a sign here. If it’s a sick joke or whatever, these are your babies and you don’t ever want anything like this to happen,” said dog owner Caylynn Lagamma.
Kari Parsons comes to Bear Creek to walk her puppy almost every day. But before she even entered the dog park, she was greeted by this sign: warning dog owners about poisoned toys.
Parsons and Lagamma aren’t the only dog owners scared by the sign.
“I’m really leary because I have seen toys lying around here and I never had a second thought about it and my dog would pick them up but right away I would say leave it but she already had it in her mouth,” said Sandy Piggot.
Ultimately, the Humane Society hasn’t received any reports and someone would need to come forward with proof.
David Rankin brings his two service dogs to the park every day, and he says he’s heard about similar postings across the country and doubts this one is legitimate.
“Found out it wasn’t in this state. It was in another state on the East coast and it happened in 2013. The story is verbatim the same,” Rankin said.
We found the same story online, but whether this sign is legit isn’t clear.
In the meantime, Parsons isn’t taking any chances.
“We normally play fetch but not today,” she said.
