Pet owners in fear after animals allegedly poisoned

Pet owners in Changqiaoyuan residential compound, Tongzhou district, are in fear for their pets, after eight dogs and cats were allegedly poisoned over the last four days.

"Dogs died within hours after they were walked on the grass inside the compound," said a resident, surnamed Li, on Monday, who has transferred her dog to another place to avoid potential danger.

Li said that she and her neighbors suspect that someone had put poison on the grass to kill the dogs, as the dogs died with the same symptoms of vomiting and spasms, from Wednesday to Saturday.

A resident spotted two dogs eating something on the grass and one of them died after its owner failed to snatch the food from its mouth, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.　

A pet owner, surnamed Zhang, who lost her 6-month-old Tenerife dog on Thursday, said her dog died after receiving treatment at a pet clinic. The dogs were killed by something containing phosphorus, the vet said, according to the paper.

Angry pet owners also posted their cases on the Internet, seeking witnesses to help find the animal "murderer."

"At first I thought it could be rat poison, but I was told by a neighbor that someone put poison into meat to catch the dogs," Web user Baijiaoyu posted on the bulletin board of the Batong online community for residents of Tongzhou district.

But another Web user said following the post that if the pet owners always illegally walk their dogs off the leash, the owners should also be responsible for their pet's death.

"Residents are warned not to allow children and pets on the grass," says a notice from the compound's property management company.

Police are investigating, but would not comment Monday.