Two more dogs poisoned in NE Bend neighborhood

Just over a year ago, a Bend dog was poisoned in its own backyard by some meat that was laced with rat poison.

Now, just a year later, a neighbor’s dogs have also fallen victim to poison.

On Friday, Jennifer McCallister said she got a call that both of her dogs, Chevy and Lucy, were in critical condition and being rushed to the hospital.

Chevy, a 7-year-old pug, did not survive. Lucy, their 12-year-old pug, is in critical condition.

Veterinarian Dr. Byron Maas said the symptoms Lucy is showing are that of a toxin that attacks the nervous system of animals, which is how rat poison works.

Maas said it is very uncommon occurrence for this to happen in the Bend area.

“We see poisonings happen fairly infrequently, but when it happens it’s very severe, so fortunately in our community, people are pretty aware of a lot of the toxins that we can avoid.”

Jennifer McCallister is the owner of the two dogs, living in the 1700 block of Northeast Sonya Court.

McCallister said that this event has changed her family’s life forever and has taken away their sense of security.

“We’ve been here for seven years, in a safe neighborhood, where my son has gone to school the entire time,” McCallister said. “And now, a random act of cruelty has changed our lives forever.”

McCallister said she and her family are going to have to move, because she can’t imagine living a life without dogs.

On Monday, they were still cleaning up bits of poison around the yard.

Their neighbor, Nora Dragoon Williams, said she feels just as scared as her neighbors, saying she isn’t sure that it is even safe for her children to run around their backyard anymore.

“My children, for the most part, is what I am worried about,” Dragoon Williams said. “And if that guy is out there, or that person is out there, and he’s watching this,: My children are in danger because of your actions. This is — this is terrible. You’re malicious.”

Bend police Lt. Brian Kindel said they are looking into the situation and are hoping that someone nearby saw something that might help them identify who is poisoning dogs.

“We’re trying to find out why, but, take care of your pets in the back of your yard,” Kindel said. “If there is suspicious meat with pellets in it, you know, pull your animals in and call us.”

This is an ongoing investigation, Kindel said, and they hope someone saw something that may help them in this case.

Police also said they will be patrolling that neighborhood more frequently then they typically do.

A GoFundMe account has been set up for the dogs and can be found here.