Dog Owners: Poisoned Hot Dogs Left Near Sidewalk In Crofton

CROFTON, Md. (WJZ) -- Police and Animal Control in Anne Arundel County are warning the community about someone trying to hurt house pets near Crofton.

As Mike Schuh reports, hot dogs were hollowed out and filled with chemicals and metal fragments and left near sidewalks.

Nikki DeBrouse and Reid McCargar love their dogs like children---and right now, they're trying to understand why someone wants to hurt them.

DeBrouse says she was walking the two rescue dogs last week when the younger one, Roux, stopped.

"I realized he was chewing on something and I reached in to grab it but he swallowed it right away," said DeBrouse.

She briefly worried about what he ate, but moved on. A little further ahead, she noticed something under the street lamps.

"I saw half a hot dog in the grass, which I thought was a little strange," she said.

She didn't dwell on that, either---until they got home. Within seconds of walking into their living room, Roux was throwing up. On the carpet, there were pieces of hot dog.

"Once I realized it was a hot dog, I went in and inspected it and saw there was a blackish residue on the inside," she said.

She asked her boyfriend to go back and get the hot dog she found outside.

McCargar says the hot dog he picked up looked like it was hollowed out and filled up with cheese. The hot dog was frozen but when unwrapped---even now and from five feet away---there's a pungent chemical smell.

Now the matter is in the hands of the police.

Whatever police determine, these owners are convinced someone put the hot dogs there with the intention of hurting someone's pet.

Animal Control now has that frozen, tainted hot dog and is running tests.