Police Investigate Reports of Encino Dog Poisonings

A search was under way today for whoever has been poisoning dogs in Encino.   

In recent months, at least three dogs have been reported poisoned in Encino, including one that died. The incidents first came to the public's attention when one of the victim's owners

Frankie, a 2-year-old Rottweiler mix who lives in the 5100 block of Gaynor Avenue, started having seizures last week. His owner, Antoinette Frank took the animal to an emergency animal hospital and discovered he had been poisoned, she told ABC7.   

Frank later spotted a chewed piece of plastic wrap. ''It smelled like meat,'' Frank told ABC7. ''So someone had packed meat with rat poison and threw it over my fence.'' Frankie survived.   

Two months earlier Zoe, a 10-pound Yorkshire terrier who lives across the street, started having seizures and could no longer walk, the dog’s owner told Encino Patch. Felice Gary Catena, the owner, spent about $4,800 in medical care and her veterinarian said Zoe possibly ate rat poison.   

A boxer down the street, south of the 101 Freeway between Haskell and Woodley avenues, suffered similar symptoms and was put down a week later, Catena said in a letter to the Encino Patch editor.   

Catena reported the poisoning last Friday to Los Angeles police and animal control, she told Patch. She said officers refused to help or write a report.   

A Los Angeles Police Department official told the Daily News that its Internal Affairs Division was investigating the complaint.   

Los Angeles Animal Services General Manager Brenda Barnette told the Daily News that residents should be on “high alert for suspicious activity.”  

"There are several things that strike me as heinous about someone putting poison meat in yards to be consumed by innocent animals," Barnette said. "Although children may not eat the meat, they could certainly get the poison on their hands and accidentally ingest it.''   

An investigation into the poisonings was launched Monday by the Animal Cruelty Task Force, a joint operation of Animal Control and the LAPD, the Daily News reported.

 City News Service contributed to this report.