ElDorado County, CA….The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals responsible for the poisoning death on Saturday evening, June 25, of “Bella”, an Irish Wolfhound dog that lived on the 1900 block of Celio Lane in the Meyers area of El Dorado County.

El Dorado County Animal Services officials have been investigating the case since receiving information last week from a veterinarian and from the owner who found their dog having a seizure on the second floor deck of their home, according to Sergeant Doug Petri, Senior Animal Control Officer at the South Lake Tahoe office.

The dog died shortly after and was taken to a veterinarian to be examined. The veterinarian believes that toxicity was the cause, due to the sudden nature of death. Conclusions from the examination of the stomach contents suggest ingestion of rodent bait laced with Strychnine, (i.e. gopher poison).

Animal Services is not sure how the dog came in contact with the poison but say that there are indications it may have been an intentional act. According to Petri, poisoning causes tremendous suffering to an animal and is considered felony animal cruelty. “We do want to remind citizens that if they have a problem with a dog in their neighborhood they need to contact Animal Services,” said Petri.

“Bella didn’t deserve to endure this painful death. Whoever is responsible for poisoning her must be held accountable for this despicable crime,” said Eric Sakach, Senior Law Enforcement Specialist with HSUS.

Animal Services currently has no further leads in the case. They are asking for assistance from the community. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Animal Services at (530) 573-7925.