Emma Medeiros was shocked to find hot dog wieners pierced with razor blades in her front yard when she let her dogs out Tuesday morning.
She shuddered while thinking about what could have happened if she hadn’t noticed them.
“It would cut them from their mouths all the way to their stomach. They would bleed, like, it could have poison in it,” she said.
“It’s probably like 15 razor blades in a cocktail wiener, maybe a little more,” she said.
Kaleb Smith, co-owner of the dogs, said he was flabbergasted.
“The person’s got to be deranged … to take razor blades and split them in half, and cut them in little hot dogs, and sticking them in one by one, ugh,” Smith said.
“These dogs, they’re like my kids. You know what I mean? I’d be so devastated if something happened to them.”
Smith and Medeiros said they’ll now be checking their yard before letting their dogs out. They’re hoping others will do the same.
“I just want to make sure everyone’s pets and kids are safe. It doesn’t just go with pets. It could be someone’s kid playing in the yard, that would be even worse,” Smith said. “I love my dog but I couldn’t imagine if somebody’s little kid maybe found a piece of hot dog and put it in his mouth.”
Police said if an animal had eaten the hot dog, the offender could face animal cruelty charges and up to five years in prison.
“A lot goes into determining a charge. For instance, victimization, you know, if there was no victimization that might lessen the severity of the charge,” Regina Police spokesman Les Parker said.
It can be difficult to track down the person who put the razors in the hotdogs unless the homeowner knows who did it, Bill Thorn, Regina Humane Society’s spokesman, said in an email.
“We do hear about similar incidents from time to time. Rarely is a pet injured, but it is a clear possibility,” he said.
Pet owners should always be aware of what their animal is doing and avoid letting it eat or play with anything that they haven’t given to him or her, Thorn said. Even more innocent items such as discarded food or other items could pose dangers such as toxins or choking.
Anyone who finds something like this should contact animal protection services and the Regina Police Service, Thorn said.
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