CHRISTIANSTED — A concerned citizen who wished to remain anonymous discovered three medium-sized puppies dead at a church site in Montpellier near the Mahogany Road about 11 days ago.
The citizen said that they discovered five separate piles of dry dog food with a white powdery substance on top about 8:30 a.m. April 6, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
Based on the information obtained, there were a total of five puppies and one adult female stray dog that were being fed at that location for a while, according to the VIPD.
The VIPD Animal Cruelty investigator on the scene found that three puppies showed signs of poisoning, “but it wouldn’t be confirmed until a laboratory chemical screening is conducted from evidence collected at the scene. Two of the puppies are still missing.”
The laboratory results indicated that a highly-toxic poison called Methomyl was detected on the dry dog food collected from the scene, police said.
Methomyl is a restricted Carbamate insecticide and it was used to poison the dogs.
There have been three other poison cases in which animals here were poisoned with the same Methomyl insecticide.
“Those other cases stem from 2015 in the Estate Carlton area, where five dogs were killed and one survived,” VIPD spokesman Glen Dratte said. “Estate Diamond in 2016, one dead dog and one survived, Estate Clifton Hill 2019, five dead dogs and one survived and the recent case at Montpellier.”
Anyone having knowledge of who has possession or is illegally smuggling this highly-toxic poison called Methomyl, please contact the VIPD Animal Cruelty Investigator, 911 or submit a tip to V.I. Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477.
