Someone In Brooklyn Is Leaving Raw Meat Filled With Needles To Hurt Or Kill Dogs

Someone in Brooklyn is leaving raw meat filled with sharp needles at a park in an apparent attempt to hurt neighborhood dogs.

The disturbing incident was reported this week by Ditmas Park Corner, a website serving the Ditmas Park neighborhood in Flatbush.

The report came from a concerned citizen who found the tainted meat near a garbage.

“Please be cautious if you’re walking on Cortelyou Road, between E. 18th and E. 19th Streets — neighbor Devrim let us know he found this chunk of meat with about a dozen large needles stuck to it on the sidewalk.”

“Devrim told us he threw the dangerous meat in the nearest trash can, but he wanted to alert neighbors to the matter, noting that it could have been particularly worrisome for a curious dog passing by the meat.”

The booby-trapped meat could be part of a disturbing trend in the borough. A commenter on the story spoke about someone else poisoning squirrels in the area.

“This is incredibly disturbing. There was someone on the neighborhood listserve complaining about poisoned squirrels in the area recently as well,” the person wrote. “It shouldn’t be a controversial statement that people who harm animals are dangerous to humans as well. Death by ingesting needles would be a horribly painful way for whatever animal came across this to go. Cruel.”

This is not the first time that someone has left a booby-trapped food for the purpose of harming animals. Snopes documented several cases of people finding needles, nails, and other dangerous objects starting in 2011.

The report noted:

• “In October 2011, about two weeks after the photo of the nail-laden cheese began circulating online, two pieces of meat that had several framing nails “loosely attached” to their underside were reportedly found at the Buchanan Park dog park in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.”

• “Similarly, in January 2013 UK news sources reported the discovery of several dozen cocktail sausages spiked with nails at a popular dog-walking spot in Abergavenny, South Wales:”

• “In January 2013, residents of Canton, Michigan, reported finding pieces of meat and fish with pins and needles inserted into them in their neighborhood; two dogs underwent surgery to remove needles they swallowed while ingesting pieces of sausage found on the ground.”

• “In July 2003, eight dogs died and at least sixteen more fell ill after visiting Laurelhurst Park in Portland, Oregon, where they were believed to have ingested contaminated pieces of meat or sausage. (The residents of that area were then engaged in a dispute between pet owners who felt dogs should be free to roam that park and others who felt the city’s leash law should be enforced there.)”

There was no more information about the needle-filled meat found in Brooklyn, and it’s not clear if police are involved.

[Image via Ditmas Park Corner]