Dog poisoned in NE Bend neighborhood

A dog owner said she’s moving out of her northeast Bend neighborhood after one of her dogs died and the other was poisoned earlier this month.

Victoria, who’s only going by her first name out of fear of retaliation, told NewsChannel 21 on Monday that there were three incidents in which her dogs became sick after being in the backyard.

Victoria has had two dogs, Dionne and Tika — both rescue dogs.

Earlier this month, Dionne, a pit bull mix who’s very energetic, was not drinking or eating.

Victoria said she became worried and took Dionne to a veterinarian, who told her the dog had been poisoned.

Blood samples confirmed the pit mix had diphacinone in his blood system.

According to the National Pesticide Information Center, diphacinone is a poison used to kill rodents and can be highly toxic if inhaled.

“If I had waited (to take him to the vet), he would have been dead,” Victoria said.

She said she doesn’t know how her dog came in contact with the poison.

Victoria also said she is watchful when her dogs go outside. She also said the dogs are kept fenced in her backyard and don’t bark.

Veterinarian Dr. Tony Oddo said the incident is the first of this type he’s seen in the Bend area.

“The dog showed signs of weakness, would not eat, and could not get up or move,” Oddo said.

Oddo gave Dionne vitamin K1 to fight the poison. The dog is still being treated.

“Why someone would do this is beyond me,” he said.

In May, Victoria found something unusual in her backyard on Northeast Sonya Court.

She said she came home, but went through the back gate, where she discovered a pound of meat that had been tossed over the fence.

There were two piles of what looked like raw sausage, she said.

She said the meat had some type of sweet coating that would attract an animal.

Victoria filed a report with the Bend Police Department the next day.

Victoria’s other dog, Tika, had to be put down last week after she suffered a systemic auto-immune disease.

She said she believes her dog was poisoned as well, but the vet clinic told NewsChannel 21, there was no evidence to prove she died of poisoning.

According to the police report, Victoria was concerned for her dogs because she was still nursing a sick dog (Tika) from an unknown illness that occurred in January. That incident cost her about $7,000 in treatments and tests for an unknown illness that killed her dog.

Victoria warned other dog owners to watch what their dogs eat.

“I don’t know why my home is being targeted. I don’t know if it’s directly toward me,” she said.

Anyone with information can give the Bend Police department a call on their non-emergency line.