BY ISABEL EVERETT
Newcastle dog owners are being warned to keep an eye out for poisonous bate after a hot dog with what appeared to be rat poison inside was found opposite a park in Mayfield West.
Lozzie Macey was walking her two dogs on Sunday morning when she spotted the bait opposite Stevenson park.
"We walk around the park which is a really busy outdoor hub with baseball, soccer, they're building a new playground, lots of people all the time," Ms Macey said.
"On the footpath we saw what appeared to be a child's Frankfurt with blue rat poison stuck in it."
Ms Macey was luckily able to stop her dog from eating the meat, however she says others may not be so lucky in the future.
"Lots of people walk their dogs, absolutely anything could have picked that up and been killed. I really don't know what the person was thinking but it's such a dangerous thing."
"It was obviously rat poison stuck into a frankfurt on the footpath so its not like someone would accidentally drop it there."
Ms Macey said she tried to alert the local community and police about the incident.
"I put it on Facebook and I uploaded the image to crime stoppers to make sure it was reported to the police."
The Friends of Stevenson Park group are advising everyone to to keep a look out.
"If you see anything like that, report it, let people know and put the word out. Don't let these people keep us frightened indoors, we still need to walk our dogs. We need to share this information with others whenever we find out," Ms Macey said.
"Its always good practice not to let your dogs eat stuff off the footpath because you just don't know what it is that they're picking up."
Ms Macey said she would like to see the person responsible face serious consequences.
"It's apparently a breach of the poisons act. I think they should certainly be charged to make them aware of how dangerous it is. It could have been a magpie, it could've been a kid a scooter just grabbing a sausage."
