Ormond Beach, FL - Officials are warning pet owners who visit Bicentennial Park in Ormond Beach that several meatballs have been found at the park with fish hooks placed inside, and one dog was taken to the vet after eating one of those meatballs.
Volusia County Sheriff's Office (VCSO) says that a deputy responded to reports of contaminated meat at Bicentennial Park at 1850 Ocean Shore Blvd. on Tuesday. One park visitor told the deputy that she saw a dog eating one of the several randomly placed meatballs with fish hooks embedded inside. She said that no one saw anyone put the meatballs out. The meat was cut open by the deputy, who found hooks inside, and the hooks were taken into evidence.
The dog was taken to Tomoka Pines Veterinary Hospital, along with two of the meatballs. X-rays showed that the dog had not ingested any of the hooks, according to VCSO. The hospital told officials it was not going to test the meat for chemicals.
The deputy at Bicentennial Park searched the small-dog park near the east fence line and found one meatball placed in the grass. Volusia County Animal Control was contacted, and Park employees closed both the small-dog park and the large-dog park and conducted several searches. No additional meatballs were found, and the parks were re-opened.
According to VCSO, the balls of meat that were found were still cold and thawing. Some of them were very mushy and smelt like liverwurst. The deputy who investigated this case said there had also been reports of meat stuffed with pills at the same park two years ago.
At this time, VCSO has no information on who placed the meatballs with hooks at the park. The case is considered closed since there were no direct witnesses, but the Sheriff's Office will re-open it if anyone can provide credible information.
If anyone has more information, they can call the VCSO's non-emergency line: 386-248-1777, or they can call Crime Stoppers and remain anonymous: Call 1-888-277-8477 (TIPS).
All photos of the meatballs courtesy VCSO
Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2017.
