A Regina pet owner is upset after finding a hot dog loaded with razor blades in her yard in west Regina on Tuesday morning.
Emma Medeiros turned to social media to warn other dog owners in the city.
"It's not a common thing, but I have seen it before,” said veterinarian Lesley Sawa.
“Certainty, it's something that we really don't want to see happening in our city. These dogs are our precious family members and we don't want to see them hurt."
Sawa said she’s only seen a couple cases in which dangerous material was planted for dogs to eat. In each case, the animals passed the material and survived. She said anyone whose dog starts vomiting blood or dark fluid should take the animal to the vet.
“We’ll take an X-ray almost 100 per cent of the time if they were showing signs like that,” said Sawa.
“So, once that X-ray is taken, then we can say, ‘yes your dog has ingested this’ and then make as plan as how to move forward."
The Regina Police Service says it’s rare to hear of someone trying to harm an animal with food, but it does happen. Regina police spokesperson Les Parker says animal cruelty can fetch two to five years of jail time.
"There's sometimes where people will hold an animal of, unfortunately, little value,” Parker said.
“What if a child picked this up and ate the hot dog and whatever terrible thing could happen there?"
