Dogs poisoned by tainted biscuits outside Fort Lauderdale condo, residents say

Dog owners say they have been harassed by condo board members

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Residents of a condo community in Fort Lauderdale believe their pets are being targeted and even poisoned.

Two dogs have fallen seriously ill after eating dog biscuits residents say were tainted, and they believe those biscuits where planted around the property on purpose.

Eric Hersh said his 7-month-old bichon frise, Otto, was poisoned by a disgruntled resident in his condo complex. 

He said ever since he got Otto as an emotional support animal, he has been harassed by some residents and condo board members, "who questioned the validity of whether or not I deserved to have one."  

Hersh said his dog was poisoned Thursday while he took Otto for a walk.

"The dog was on a leash and I noticed he started eating something on the ground and it looked like a crushed dog biscuit," Hersh said. 

Hersh didn't think much of it until a little later.

"(I) came back about an hour and a half later and the dog was projectile vomiting all over the house," he said. 

Hersh rushed Otto to the vet where he had his stomach pumped and now he is on the mend, but Hersh's neighbor, who also has an emotional support dog, went outside to investigate and found at least two dozen Milk Bones around the property.

"They were all a little mushy, like they had been soaked. They were strategically placed between 18 and 24 inches apart," Gail Morgan said. 

They called the police, who collected some of the bones on Friday so they could test them. 

Meanwhile, a neighbor from a nearby condo said she has been harassed and her dog was poisoned, too. 

"Screaming, 'Get your goddamn dog off our grass, blah, blah, blah,'" Linda Nader said. 

Hersh believes his dog would be dead if he would have eaten the entire biscuit.

"To me, it is just a sick, sick, person," Hersh said.