Thursday, September 13th, 2012

This is technically a bit north of the Upper West Side, but it’s close enough that it may be of interest.

The ASPCA is investigating the deaths of four dogs walked in Riverside Park over two days in July.

It is believed the dogs were victims of poisoning and PETA is now offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone found to be responsible.

DNAinfo reported the details earlier this week, with a follow-up story about the PETA reward.

The video above is of an interview Fox 5 conducted with Jeff Mays, the DNAinfo reporter following the story.

Just to be clear about the facts so as not to incite immediate panic among Upper West Side dog owners:

• All four deaths happened over a two-day period in July — 7/17 & 7/18. This does not appear to be an ongoing problem
  .
• The area of Riverside Park in question is between 136th & 140th Streets

It’s buried near the bottom of the first DNA story, but one of the owners of the deceased dogs received an anonymous call from a man a few weeks after her dog died:

The caller said he was told by his building’s superintendent that another super on 137th Street had admitted to placing poison in the park because he was tired of people not picking up after their dogs.

It’s unclear if this is being pursued as a valid lead.

Anyone with tips or information should contact the ASPCA.

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Tags: ASPCA, Dogs, New York City, NYC, PETA, poison, poisoned dogs, poisoning death, Riverside Park, Upper West Side, UWS