Reward Growing In Search For Poisoned Meat Suspect
GUNBARREL, Colo. (CBS4)- The reward is growing for information leading to the arrest of the person who put poison in meatballs and then left them for dogs to eat.
Three dogs became sickened after eating the tainted meat at Buckingham Park in Gunbarrel last month. Residents and park users gathered on Saturday afternoon for a fundraiser to increase that reward in hopes of catching the suspect.
Dog lovers collected $3,000 on top of the $4,500 reward already offered to catch the person responsible for leaving the meat laced with rat poison.
Sonny Monaco is one of those dog owners who participated in the fundraiser. A tainted meatball almost killed Gybs, her chocolate Labrador.
"When we saw the amount of blood it was frightening," said Monaco.
Gybs munched on one of 10 tainted meatballs laced with rat poison.
"My vet said that's enough poison in there to kill at least 20 dogs, at least 20," said Monaco.
"I saw her sniff something and it was pretty clear it had green blotches in it," said dog owner Eileen Monyock.
Her dog, Annie, helped Monyock find two of the poisoned meatballs last month that were thrown under a bush.
"It freaked me out, and I was like, 'Okay, stay calm, pickup meat ball, have poop bag' and I grabbed the meatball," said Monyock.
The meatballs were turned over the Colorado Bureau of Investigation in hopes that they could track the DNA but the CBI was unable to collect a sample.
That's why dog lovers organized the fundraiser in hopes that a bigger reward might shake loose someone's memory and help investigators track down the suspect.
"We get that reward money or carrot, if you will, dangling out there, it's going to say, 'You know, I saw so-and-so wandering the park and I saw something fall and I didn't think anything of it,'" said Monaco.
If no one claims the $7,500 reward, that money will benefit the Longmont and Boulder Humane Societies.
Anyone with information on the poisoning attempts is asked to call the Boulder County Sheriff's Office at 303-441-4444.
