Serial Dog Slayer Terrorizes Pet Owners

[matcom]

i wonder where DS1 has been lately :think:

<snip>

HONG KONG -- After a morning downpour in April, a calculating killer laid his bait: bony, cooked chicken laced with purple crystals of a particularly deadly insecticide.

The trap, placed along a popular walking trail, soon claimed a victim. Within an hour of ingesting the poisoned meat, a 2-year-old black Labrador retriever went into convulsions and died. Hours later, another black Lab met the same fate. And two days later, a third dog was felled by a fresh application of the same poison in the same area.

"It was horrible. You feel helpless," said Cath Hopkins, whose dog Caspar was one of the dogs killed.

The canine carnage marked the alarming return of Hong Kong's longest-running serial killer after a six-month hiatus. The Bowen Road dog slayer, named after the walking trail in an affluent neighborhood where he has poisoned dozens of victims, has eluded the law for more than a decade.

Just a few miles north of here, in China's Guangzhou province, dogs frequently appear on menus. In rural areas of Hong Kong, stray dogs are periodically poisoned as payback for attacking locals or for just being a nuisance. But Bowen Road attracts the upper crust of Hong Kong's dogs. Their doting owners are bankers and lawyers, frequently expatriates. At least 38 well-bred and finely groomed dogs have died, according to the police, and about 60 other pet dogs, from Dalmatians to Rottweilers, have fallen seriously ill. Hong Kong's former governor Chris Patten nearly lost Whisky, one of his two Norfolk terriers, in 1997.

Police believe a single male is responsible for the attacks, but have made little progress cracking the case. Patrols were stepped up after Whisky's close call. Three years later, after another spate of killings, a Swedish pet detective was brought in. Hotline numbers were set up, a $6,400 reward was offered. Recently, plainclothes cops have staked out the area. But the killer has dodged it all.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB113027523802179170-lMyQjAxMDE1MzIwNjIyNzY1Wj.html

[flvegan]

1. Where's my passport...

Poisoning like that is a horrible death.

I just want 5 minutes. Him...me...alone.

[Coventina]

2. He'll turn to people next if he isn't stopped. n/t

[DS1]

3. There's no dog slaying to be seen here, all the dogs are fine and awaiting

their fight against the imperial American serial dog killer.

[Magrittes Pipe]

4. SLAYER!

[China_cat]

5. We've trained our dogs to food refusal

after a local poisoned one of them (in our yard). The dogs will take nothing from anybody but us and then only with the code word. Time, I think, for this to be part of basic obedience for all dogs.

[ernstbass]

6. I agree

I had an evil neighbor poison 2 of my dogs in MY yard. Glad to see congress approve bittering agent in antifreeze. (I hate that a repug introduced the legislation)

[China_cat]

8. There is anitifreeze

that's animal and child safe. A bit more expensive than the ethylene glycol but worth it.

Sierra (Safe Brands Corp., 1-800-289-7234)

Sta-Clean (Sta-Clean Products, 1-800-825-3464

Prestone LowTox® Antifreeze/Coolant-available at most automotive stores and departments

[miss_kitty]

7. my dog was trained with a code word by her previous owner

who abandoned her and it's been 11 months and I haven't figured it out. I have to cajole her to get her to eat her food. Now, if we're on a walk and there is a particularly rancid piece of food garbage on the ground, then it's all systems go-in a sneaky way...