The Case of the Poisoned Dog

Let me begin by saying this is all circumstantial until the toxicology report comes back from Texas A&M.

On Tuesday afternoon I was cleaning the blinds in my bedroom. I opened them up to clean the windows and noticed our dog Bella was barking insanely at the fence and more specifically at a large knothole. She was almost forcing her muzzle into the hole and then pacing back and forth. I almost yelled at her when I noticed something, sort of like a large straw or plastic utensil come just slightly through the hole. Bella went to it immediate, put he mouth on it, pulled away and began chewing. I almost knocked on the window but stopped to see if what I had seen was really what I thought it was. After a moment or two then entire scene repeated and I began knocking wildly on the window. From the other side of the fence I could see a large adult move past the fence (through the slats) back toward the house. I immediatly ran upstairs and looked out game room window in to the back yard. I saw nothing but this is really what I should have done first to catch them in the act.

I was completely baffled as to why someone would be feeding my dog anything through the fence much less an adult in 32 degree weather in the late afternoon. I was VERY suspect from the get go and I began to try and think of why this might have occurred. I only came up with one possibility.

Bella is a barker, an extreme barker. She has been muzzled (she tore one up) with a mesh muzzle, fitted with a static (shock) collar and still she barks. She can almost jump the back fence and has on several occasions actually jumped so much that she has knocked the fence section down and escaped. She is black part Pitt and part lab and weighs about 80lbs. She looks fierce but she is a big baby who whines all the time. She is actually Garrison's dog he got for Christmas in 2005. She's a big old mess but I really like the dog because she is a great watchdog and everyone (salesmen and solicitors) who comes to the door is scared of her.

I've had numerous complaints in the form of phone calls complaining about the barking. We really have spent tons of money and tried just about everything to get her to stop. Actually the bark collar is humorous in that she barks, it zaps and she freaks out! I really should tape it for America's Funniest Home Video. We'd probably win because she nearly flips over in the air bucking like a bronco but she has never connected the barking to the zapping. So now after this event I became convinced that they are trying to kill our dog.

I told Sean (and ever the gentleman) he didn't think the worst but tried to think of some alternate reason this might have happened. He even asked if I was sure of what I saw. His solution was to watch Bella, cover the holes in the fence and we'd go from there. That was Tuesday night.

Wednesday she seemed fine. Today however she spent the day in her kennel and when I got home I was greeted but the most overwhelming and utterly disgusting odor I'd ever come up against. Garrison declared he wasn't going in the house but we went in holding our noses searching for the source of this foul crappy odor. You guessed it is was Bella. She had filled her cage with poop. She was covered, the bedding was drenched and the cage was the biggest mess I've ever seen. I drug her to the door, the cage outside and threw the bedding away. gagging the entire time. The smell permeated the entire house so in 29-degree weather the windows were opened we wore coats and I lit candles. I sprayed every air freshener and bottle febreeze I could find. After about 20 minutes of this, the smell was gone and we could move on.

Now I am brooding over the fact that I believe our neighbors are psycho dangerous dog killers who are capable of anything. I’ve called the vet ( at the wias suggestion ont Tracey F) and I am going to collect and take “samples” to them so that we can ship them to Texas A&M. Which leads me back to my very first statement.

I’ve called the HOA president and his wife suggested I keep a video camera by the back window. I will be doing that.
Do I confront the people? Do I wait it out until I see if we have any evidence? What do I say? And what happens next? They have to know I’m on to them because I covered the holes and banged on the window. I’m thinking if they will do it once then they will do it again, right? I hate to start a big old fight because we have to live next to these people but frankly I’m scared of what they are capable of. If they will hurt an innocent animal then what else will they do if they are mad?

The entire situation creeps me out and I want them to move. They have only been there for about 8 months and no one really knows them. Sean has spoken to the husband out front before but I’ve never seen the wife. I know they have no children but that’s the extent of my confirmed knowledge. In my mind they are sadistic sicko’s hurting peoples dogs and acting out the anger in creepy secret ways.

So far Bella seems okay but I’m sure if they really wanted to kill her she’d be dead. Perhaps they thought it’s be a good laugh to make us have to clean up a big mess, like some sort of punishment. I don’t know these are all just guesses. I do know that the only alternative left is a behavior specialist ( who knows what that will cost or if it will work and she is in Bedford.) and as a very last resort, there is surgery to clip her vocal cords. That is the last option becasue we don't want to get rid of the dog. We all really like her, if not love her. What to do?????

I’ll keep updating as I know more.