Woman Claims Dogs Were Poisoned

The San Diego County Department of Animal Services is investigating a likely case of animal cruelty.

 

An Ocean Beach dog owner said someone poisoned her two dogs.

 

Both died violently within a half hour of each other.

 
Deborah Powell treated her dogs like children. Her pit bull mix Ed was 5 and the 3-year-old Labrador was named Delilah.

 

“I love them so much,” Deborah Powell said. “They went everywhere with me.”

 

On Monday, she let them out of the house to play.

 

“The pit-mix ran straight to this side of the cot and swallowed something,” Powell said.

 

Four hours later, Ed started having a seizure

 

“Violent whole body seizures, whole body, tense violently seizing, foaming at the mouth,” Powell said.

 

Powell rushed to get him to the hospital, but he died on the way.

 

“He was already gone,” she said. “I tried CPR, but his heart already stopped.”

 

Not even 10 minutes after she got home.... Powell's other dog Delilah had a seizure too.

She died at the hospital.

 

“They went from being completely non-symptomatic to dead in 25 minutes.”

 

The Department of Animal Services said it's likely someone poisoned the dogs.

"For two dogs to die that quickly in a yard... Yeah, that does not point to a natural cause," Daniel DeSousa with the San Diego Department of Animal Services said,

 

But it's hard to pinpoint who did it. Especially since no one has filed any complaints against Powell's dogs.

 

“Without a witness to a case, these kinds of cases are very difficult, almost impossible to prove.”

 

Animal Services said the suspect, if ever caught, could face felony animal cruelty charges.

 

A neighbor is offering a $1,000 reward for information.

 

Anyone with information is encouraged to call Animal Services at 619-236-2341.