SYLMAR : Poisoning of 7 Dogs Under Police Inquiry

Los Angeles police and animal regulation officers are investigating the poisoning of as many as seven dogs, four of which died, this week in a Sylmar neighborhood.

The dogs died or became sick apparently after eating hamburger meat laced with white pellets that had been thrown into their yards Monday evening, police and pet owners said. The pellets are being analyzed to determine if they contain poison, officials said.

Michael Burns, assistant general manager of the Department of Animal Regulation, said that two of the dead dogs have been examined and he was “positive” they had been poisoned. He said there was no apparent tie between the Sylmar cases and a spate of animal poisonings in the past month in a neighborhood near Silver Lake Reservoir.