From
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=95545Who poisoned poor Olly? Fiend scattered deadly dog food in Eastie park
By Michele McPheeThursday, July 28, 2005 - Updated: 01:31 AM EST
Police are hunting a pet-hating coward who mixed a toxic snack of rodent killer and meat and stashed cups filled with the lethal chow around an East Boston park frequented by dog walkers - poisoning a chocolate Labrador retriever puppy.
   Luckily for Caroline Mabon, 24, her 11-month-old pooch, Olly, lived after eating the sadistic mix, but it remains unclear if the puppy will have lifelong side effects from ingesting rat poison.
   ``I'm dumbfounded that someone would do this. Who would want to kill someone's dog? And what if one of the kids in the area picked up the cup?'' Mabon said yesterday at Brigham Park, a picturesque enclave in Jeffries Point that abuts million-dollar homes and sports a panoramic view of the waterfront and Boston skyline.
   Mabon said the poison was stuffed in Walt Disney Dixie Cups and secreted in bushes near the park's benches. Olly found one of the cups Tuesday afternoon, after Mabon let the puppy off her leash for a romp.
   The horrified owner found her pup minutes later eating a ``bright green substance'' mixed with dog food. Mabon called the city's animal control unit and then rushed her puppy to a vet - who confirmed that the substance was rat poison.
   ``It appears it was placed there for a dog. It was mixed with dog food and some kind of meat,'' said Pat Conroy, the supervisor for the Boston Animal Control Unit, who picked up three cups full of the poison from Mabon yesterday. ``We went out there first thing this morning to make sure whoever did this did not do it again.''
   Yesterday, Lt. Alan B. Borgal of the Animal Rescue League said the agency is offering a $1,000 reward for any information that leads to the culprit's arrest. Cruelty to animals is now a felony in Massachusetts.
   ``We're very concerned. Usually, poisoning incidents are neighbor vs. neighbor,'' Borgal said. ``I cannot remember an incident where a public park was deliberately targeted for pet poisoning.''
   Last night, Mabon brought Olly, who remains medicated and underwent a battery of blood tests, back to the park to warn other dog walkers about the lurking danger.Â
The park is nicknamed ``Golden Stairs'' by the area's residents because the tucked-away preserve seems heavenly, hidden by tall wildflowers, with a constant sea breeze. The park is tidy and was free of any dog feces yesterday.
   ``The people who walk their dogs here are very responsible. Everyone picks up after their dogs,'' said Mike Cicalese, 50, who lets his mutt, Duke, play with a hulking French mastiff, Reggio, most mornings and evenings. ``A lot of elderly people around here have pets that are their only companions. There are a lot of kids around here. It's a very spiteful act.
   ``There are drug dealers that congregate in this park,'' he added. ``No one is trying to poison them.''
   Animal Rescue League officers plan to patrol the park today and leaflet the neighborhood offering the reward, Borgal said.
   In the meantime, the dog walkers themselves have formed a crime watch of sorts to protect their pets. Mabon also filed a police report with Boston cops at District A-7.
   ``Whoever did this could have killed Olly,'' Mabon said. ``I hope they catch the person.''