Reward offered for capture of pet poisoner in western Las Vegas

The poisoning death of a pet dog last month in Las Vegas is one of multiple attempts to poison canines in the area in the past five years, neighbors say.

The most recent incident occurred on March 28, when resident Teri Cornwall discovered one of her family’s three dogs, a 5-year old Shih Tzu named Chewy, suffering uncontrollable seizures at their home in The Lakes, according to her husband, Sean.

Teri Cornwall, who was recovering from a broken leg, then saw that her other two Shih Tzus, 3-year-olds Luke and Leia, also were convulsing. With the help of a friend, she rushed the dogs to the vet, where they were immediately anesthetized before being transferred to an emergency clinic.

Leia died at the emergency clinic while Luke and Chewy underwent treatment for three days before being released, Sean Cornwall said.

The vet told Cornwall that each dog consumed some sort of toxin about 30 minutes before suffering the seizures, he said.

Cornwall reviewed home surveillance footage and saw something thrown over the wall into his backyard. When he checked the area, he found a packet resembling a meatball stuffed with bright orange and green seeds and wrapped in thread, he said.

Cornwall reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police Department and went door to door to inform neighbors about the incident. That’s when he learned that someone had attempted to poison three German shepherds belonging to Connie Robertson-Butler, who lives nearby on Channel Rock Drive, over the last five years.

Robertson-Butler said she found hot dogs, meatballs and cheeseburgers in her backyard, each stuffed with the rat pellets and green and orange seeds, she said. Robertson-Butler attempted to report the latest incident to Metro, but they wouldn’t take her report, she said. Instead, they instructed her to call 311 — the department’s non-emergency number — if it happens again.

Previous deaths

“Next time we might not be so lucky,” she said.

Sean Hazelhurst, who used to live nearby on Old Salt Circle, moved away from the neighborhood because of a similar incident in 2015, he said. Hazelhurst came home to find his year-old Chihuahua, Max, and 8-month-old pit bull, Nella, convulsing in the house.

“On our way to the emergency vet, Max died,” he said. “This was all frantically happening at 1 a.m.,” he added.

Hazelhurst reported the incident to Metro and an investigator was sent to his house, but “they didn’t really do anything,” he said. The family also sent samples of a similar meat pack and seeds they found in their yard to a toxicology lab, which found phencyclidine, otherwise known as the drug PCP, he said.

Another resident of the area, Alex Lentz, said he reported three separate attempts to poison his year-old Dalmatians, Jazzy and Bella, in 2017, he said.

Lentz said he got lucky the first two times and was able to get the meatballs before the dogs did. But the third time, he found both dogs chewing on another meatball that was thrown in the backyard, and both dogs soon began convulsing. Bella survived, but Jazzy died at the vet, he said.

Lentz reported the incident to Metro, but never really got help, he said.

“Police told me there wasn’t much they could do,” he said.

‘Eyes and ears’ needed

Metro is investigating the Cornwalls’ case and detectives have spoken with numerous neighbors, police spokeswoman Laura Meltzer said. She said Metro only received two reports of similar instances in the area prior to the most recent case, both of which lacked evidence. Police urge anyone who has experienced situations like this to file a report with the local area command and keep evidence, including surveillance footage, that might help investigators crack the case.

She also said neighbors should use neighborhood watch groups and community social media networks to spread the word about the incidents.

“The more eyes and ears we have, the more help we get,” she said.

In the meantime, Sean Cornwall has started a Go Fund Me account to raise money for a reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect. As of Friday, more than $2,300 had been donated.

If no one claims the reward, Cornwall said he plans to give the money to fight animal cruelty or start his own fund in Leia’s name to heighten awareness of crimes such as this.

Contact Jessica Terrones at jterrones@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256. Follow @JessATerrones on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Katelyn Newberg contributed to this report.