Man walking his dogs on Burnaby Mountain finds meat stuffed with sewing needles

RCMP have launched an investigation after a man who was walking his two rescue dogs Saturday on a Burnaby Mountain trail discovered a piece of meat stuffed with a dozen sewing needles.

Jeff Curr, 59, saidhe made the disturbingdiscovery at about 4:30 p.m. on the North Road trail when one of his dogs, Murphy, roamed through someunderbrush and returned with a shiny piece of meat in her mouth.

Once the six-year-old husky cross dropped the meat, Curr realized it was stuffed with corn and berries and a cluster of sewing needles.

"It's frightening," said Curr, who's an adviserwith the B.C. government. "Any animal that would have got a hold of it and tried to ingest it,it certainly would have been the end of them."

Burnaby RCMP confirmed they received a report Saturday afternoon and are investigating. The B.C. SPCA saidit also received a complaint and has assigned an officer to the case.

'It was absolute luck'

Once Curr discovered the meat, he showed it to a horrified couple nearby. He thenthrew it in the garbage and phoned police.

His wife's friend later shared a photo of the meat on Facebook, which was widely shared over the weekend.

Curr saidhe's walked his dogs on the Burnaby Mountain trails several times a week for the past five years.

He said Murphy often picks up stray food items, such as apple coreswhile out on walks. But the dog looked unsure about the sirloin tiphanging from her mouth.

"It was absolute luck that she just didn't gulp it down," he said, adding the meat was roughly the size of a squirrel without its tail.

Curr said he believes someone deliberately left out the meat for an animal to eat. The trails, he said, are filled with wildlife, including coyotes, skunks and bears.

He said he hopes the incident will make people in the park more vigilant.

"Somebody who would be that premeditatedand be able to follow through on something with such cruel intentions is really concerning."

Burnaby RCMP said anyone who has spotted similar objects in the areashould phone them at 604-646-9999.