More meatballs apparently left out to poison dogs were discovered Monday morning in San Francisco's Sunset District, and those out walking their dogs are worried their furry friends will be next to ingest the tainted meat.
Dog walker Shura Kelly was out walking her dog at about 9 a.m. when she found the meatballs on a plate near the corner of 24th Avenue and Ortega Street in the city's Sunset District. She called police. The meatballs appeared to have pills lodged inside, according to San Francisco police.
Kelly snapped a photo of the meatballs, which shared room on a plate with a small white votive candle and about $1.50 in coins.
"It's a huge concern," Kelly told NBC Bay Area on Tuesday. "I just hope they start putting the resources in to catch whoever is tainting the meatballs. I'm concerned a child will be next."
The discovery has made several dog owners nervous.
"It's scary," Eva Knott said. "I always have my dog on a leash. He is more safe with me."
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And owner Marinus Schunck said he's keeping his German Shepherd close to him "until they catch this person."
It was the first finding of poisoned meatballs since a dog ate a suspected poisoned meatball in the Twin Peaks neighborhood in February. That dog, a 9-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever and border collie named Timber, was forced to throw up at the vet and wasn't hurt.
But the meatballs have been causing dog owners anxiety since last summer when hundreds of them poisoned with strychnine were found distributed in the Diamond Heights and Twin Peaks neighborhoods and killed a dachshund named Oskar.
Despite a $5,000 reward, no suspects have been arrested.
NBC Bay Area's Lisa Fernandez and Bay City News contributed to this report.
