Pet deaths stun neighborhood Pet deaths stun neighborhood (April 22, 2005)

Residents suspect poison in deaths cat, 2 dogs

By Allison Gerard

The death of Cisco Boy has turned his owners into regular Sherlock Holmes. Collecting evidence, conducting interviews and calling out the cops, they are doing everything in their power to solve the mystery of what killed their pet Shetland sheep dog.

Only a year and a half old, Cisco Boy was just coming into his own, according to his proud owners. But while on a romp around the Mountain View Park townhouses on Tyrella Avenue, they believe he ingested poison left there by a neighbor.

His owner, Hans Ruud, said that after vomiting several times, the dog appeared to go into cardiac arrest and died shortly thereafter. A vet later confirmed that his symptoms were consistent with those of a poisoning death.

Cisco Boy was not the only animal in the complex whose demise took place under suspicious circumstances.

In September another dog, Nicki, succumbed to what appeared to be poison, and around the time of Cisco's death a cat was also found dead. In addition to these pets, residents and the gardener at the complex say they have noticed a decrease in the squirrel population and have found some dead squirrels.

All of these unexplained deaths have given Ruud and board members of the homeowners' association reason to believe there is something suspicious going on at the complex.

Bob Patterson, treasurer of the association, refers to the squirrels around the complex as "rats with good public relations." He thinks that someone is trying to poison them, only to make victims out of the pets.

Patterson describes himself as an animal lover, but he said there are a lot of people who are very intolerant of wildlife. Along with fellow board member David Lopez, he agrees that both dogs were poisoned.

They believe the dog that died in September may have been intentionally poisoned. Patterson said she constantly barked during the day, which would give someone a motive. Cisco, on the other hand, was apparently well-liked in the complex. And Patterson said the neighbors he talked to said they never heard him bark.

"With Nicki it was an open-and-shut case, but after Cisco died, that's when we started asking questions," Patterson said.

The police were called to the complex after Cisco's death and found no evidence of poisoning, but Ruud decided to begin his own investigation. While searching the premises for clues he found a strange bone that he thinks someone could have used to plant the poison, but without testing, he can't be sure.

The lack of evidence makes it difficult to explain what is causing the animal deaths, but the association's board is concerned that whatever is causing the animals to die could be harmful to small children who play in the common area of the townhouse complex.

"We originally wanted to keep the situation low-key because we did not want a witch hunt on our hands where neighbors were turning against neighbors," Patterson said.

The homeowners association plans to notify the tenants and owners in the upcoming newsletter of the poisoning, and that they are suspicious someone is trying to poison squirrels. Doing so is not allowed because of the danger it poses to small children and pets.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Mountain View police.
E-mail Allison Gerard at agerard@mv-voice.com

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