Dog owners concerned after meat packed with glass, blades left in yards

Two Quebec dog owners are worried after their dogs were injured in their own yards as a debate around banning pit bulls rages on after a recent string of maulings.

Stephanie Bergeronwasshakenafter herpit bull found and munched on ground beef laced with drugs and chunks of glass from a lightbulb.

Vanille, the family dog, ate the meat after finding it inBergeron'sbackyard in Ste-Anne-des-Plaines last Thursday.

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The next day in Montreal, Pierre Szalowski had a similar experience when his rescue dog Molidiscovered ameatball with two Exacto blades embedded in it.

Both dogsrequiredemergency care andnow the families are concerned for theirdogsand their own safety.

"It's not just the dog that you attack, you attack me, you attack all my family and that's not cool,"Bergeronsaid.

Similar situations, similar outcomes

Both dogs were attacked using food as baitin places their owners expected to be safe.

Vanille was given charcoal by aveterinarian in order to clear her system of the drugs and glass, according toBergeron. The visit was$300, in addition to the cost of replacingBergeron at the daycare she runs out of her home.

Moli, Szalowski's dog, underwentemergency surgery to remove the two blades. The operation left Moli with a long scar down her stomach and her owners with a nearly $3,000 bill.

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It is hard to track how common these types of attacks are but the current climate around dogs play a role,according to Montreal SPCA spokesperson Anita Kapuscinska.

Montreal,Quebec City and a number of other cities around Quebecrecently announced pit bull bans in the wake of themauling of Montreal residentChristianeVadnais, who was found dead in the backyard of her home.

Families feel uneasy

Both families turned to their local police forces following the attacks.

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Szalowski filed a report with the Montreal police but hesaid hewastold that it was unlikely anything was going to come of it due to lack of evidence and witnesses. An investigation is underway.

Bergeron saidshe was turned away entirely by Ste-Anne-des-Plaines police for the same reasons.

Since the attack,Bergeronhas feltuneasy about her family's safety. As a mother of three daughters, she wonders what would have happened if one of her children had discovered the glass and drug-laced beef.

For Szalowski, the garden is no longer a secure place for his pets.

"Now [the dogs] never go alone in the garden,"Szalowskisaid. "So it changes the whole feeling of our happiness in the garden.

"We hope that with the time and with the help of the police it will change."