Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Grape Street dogs poisoned?

"I really couldn’t find out anything”

Channel 10 news featured the homemade signs.
Channel 10 news featured the homemade signs.

On June 21, word started spreading through local social media that two dogs had become ill and one had died after (according to a post that originated on the South Bark Facebook page) “presumably ingesting/sniffing up some sort of poison (one vet thinks poisonous fertilizer) at Grape Street Dog Park.”

Bodhi animal hospital Facebook page

On June 28, the volunteer group Dog Owners of Grape Street (D.O.G.S.), held a meeting in which the recent poisoning accusations were discussed. Tyler Renner, a representative for Councilmember Chris Ward, confirmed to the group that the city does not spray any fertilizers or pesticides in the dog park.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The dog at the center of this story is “Porky,” a 6-year-old Yorkshire terrier that passed away four hours after visiting the park. By June 26, the Facebook page for Bodhi Animal Hospital had posted that three dogs had died, and was warning people who continued to visit the park to “supervise your kiddo closely and report any suspicious activity.

Jean DiCarlo Wagner, a volunteer coordinator for D.O.G.S. who has been following the story closely, revealed that Porky’s unfortunately “gruesome” death did have similarities to the death of a second dog that had also recently visited the park, with one major exception: “The second dog was liver cancer. It was the same gruesome death, because his liver exploded. So, internal bleeding, vomiting, diarrhea. So, it looked like it was the same thing.” The third dog is a bit of mystery. Wagner said she had heard about another dog, but that the symptoms were more akin to giardia, and that she was uncertain as to whether that dog had even died. “I don’t believe the third dog died,” she said. “I think it was sick, but many of the dogs, our dogs included, got giardia from drinking from the common bowls that are out there. That’s just usually a virus where they have a little bit of stomach ache or diarrhea if they’re young. If they’re very old, it can be really serious.”

Soon after word of the alleged poisonings began to spread, homemade signs were posted at the dog park warning patrons about the potential danger. As a result, Wagner says that daily attendance looks to be down “about 50 percent.” She has been visiting the dog park daily since the news broke and seems unconvinced of any potential dangers. “I feel that as part of the volunteer group that I would try to do what I could to figure out what had happened, and I really couldn’t find out anything,” she explained.

“Without anyone stepping forward — without any names, without any dogs, without any description — it just didn’t seem right to put out that something had to happen, even though people were posting signs. Personally, I think it’s been blown out of proportion.” Dick Miller, another member of D.O.G.S., has been a local at the dog park since the late 80s. He recalled witnessing dogs drop dead within the confines of the park at times over the years.

So was there ever a scare like this associated with any of those deaths? “No, but you have to take into consideration that there wasn’t social media back then either,” he said.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Chunky yellowtail from Alijos Rocks

Imperial Beach Pier thresher shark
Next Article

Aaron Bleiweiss: has guitar, has traveled

Seattle native takes Twists and Turns to assemble local all-stars
Channel 10 news featured the homemade signs.
Channel 10 news featured the homemade signs.

On June 21, word started spreading through local social media that two dogs had become ill and one had died after (according to a post that originated on the South Bark Facebook page) “presumably ingesting/sniffing up some sort of poison (one vet thinks poisonous fertilizer) at Grape Street Dog Park.”

Bodhi animal hospital Facebook page

On June 28, the volunteer group Dog Owners of Grape Street (D.O.G.S.), held a meeting in which the recent poisoning accusations were discussed. Tyler Renner, a representative for Councilmember Chris Ward, confirmed to the group that the city does not spray any fertilizers or pesticides in the dog park.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The dog at the center of this story is “Porky,” a 6-year-old Yorkshire terrier that passed away four hours after visiting the park. By June 26, the Facebook page for Bodhi Animal Hospital had posted that three dogs had died, and was warning people who continued to visit the park to “supervise your kiddo closely and report any suspicious activity.

Jean DiCarlo Wagner, a volunteer coordinator for D.O.G.S. who has been following the story closely, revealed that Porky’s unfortunately “gruesome” death did have similarities to the death of a second dog that had also recently visited the park, with one major exception: “The second dog was liver cancer. It was the same gruesome death, because his liver exploded. So, internal bleeding, vomiting, diarrhea. So, it looked like it was the same thing.” The third dog is a bit of mystery. Wagner said she had heard about another dog, but that the symptoms were more akin to giardia, and that she was uncertain as to whether that dog had even died. “I don’t believe the third dog died,” she said. “I think it was sick, but many of the dogs, our dogs included, got giardia from drinking from the common bowls that are out there. That’s just usually a virus where they have a little bit of stomach ache or diarrhea if they’re young. If they’re very old, it can be really serious.”

Soon after word of the alleged poisonings began to spread, homemade signs were posted at the dog park warning patrons about the potential danger. As a result, Wagner says that daily attendance looks to be down “about 50 percent.” She has been visiting the dog park daily since the news broke and seems unconvinced of any potential dangers. “I feel that as part of the volunteer group that I would try to do what I could to figure out what had happened, and I really couldn’t find out anything,” she explained.

“Without anyone stepping forward — without any names, without any dogs, without any description — it just didn’t seem right to put out that something had to happen, even though people were posting signs. Personally, I think it’s been blown out of proportion.” Dick Miller, another member of D.O.G.S., has been a local at the dog park since the late 80s. He recalled witnessing dogs drop dead within the confines of the park at times over the years.

So was there ever a scare like this associated with any of those deaths? “No, but you have to take into consideration that there wasn’t social media back then either,” he said.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Holiday Experiences

As soon as Halloween is over, it's Christmas time in my mind
Next Article

Birdwatching bonanza, earliest sunset of the year, bulb planting time

Venus shines its brightest
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader