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Mt. Tabor visitor reports finding suspected rat poison mixed with dog treats

Portland Parks & Recreation said park rangers removed the treats in question after a park visitor reported the location.
Credit: Mt. Tabor Veterinary Care
Mt. Tabor Veterinary Care shared a photo of the suspected poison and treat mixture on Facebook.

PORTLAND, Ore. — A Southeast Portland veterinary clinic is warning Portlanders about a recent discovery of what a visitor worried could be poison mixed with dog treats at Mt. Tabor Park.

Mt. Tabor Veterinary Care posted a message on its Facebook page Thursday saying that one of their clients reached out and told them that they found what they thought looked like rat poison mixed with some dog treats on the ground along one of the park trails.

The clinic said it contacted the Portland Parks and Recreation Department with the location. Public information officer Mark Ross said the department sent park rangers out Thursday evening and they found and removed the treats, although they have not been tested to confirm if they included poison.

Mt. Tabor Veterinary Care recommended that pet owners with concerns about their pet ingesting any kind of poison contact the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Poison Control center.

The number is 888-426-4435 and the line operates 24-7, according to the ASPCA website. A consultation fee may apply.

Two other incidents of suspected dog poisoning have made headlines in Portland in recent years, although both of those cases took place on residential property rather than in a park.

In 2021, a Washington County couple reported that someone had thrown cooked meat stuffed with rat poison into their backyard three times in a week, and one of their dogs ate some. Police later arrested their neighbor on suspicion of throwing the meat.

In 2019, a Southeast Portland couple said they took one of their dogs to the vet after they noticed that he was eating some sort of green substance that he apparently found outside near their house, and the couple said the vet told them it was likely rat poison, although it wasn't confirmed.

Dogs can also be poisoned accidentally. In addition to a lengthy list of human foods that can be harmful for dogs, Pacific Northwest dog owners in particular should be wary of salmon poisoning, which dogs can pick up all too easily from salmon carcasses or the water near them.

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