A San Diego man was sentenced on Thursday to one year in jail for poisoning his neighbors’ dogs using Vicodin and rat poison coated in peanut butter.
Jerrold Alan Schwartz pleaded guilty to animal cruelty. As part of Schwartz’s sentencing, he can be released after 240 days if he seeks weekly counseling.
Schwartz will then serve three years’ probation. He’s also not allowed to own a dog or go to spots where dogs frequent, such as a dog park.
From September 2014 until May 2015, residents say they found Vicodin and rat poison coated in peanut butter in several yards in the University Heights Neighborhood.
Dog owner Diane Ferreira said she never knew of anyone trying to their two poison dogs until Mickey, a rescued Terrier mix, died in September 2014, and a veterinarian told her the dog may have been poisoned.
As a result, the vet pumped the stomach of her other dog named Hobbes, a mix that was rescued after Mickey died.
Ferreira told NBC 7 after the poisonings that in addition to losing their precious pet, the ordeal cost her thousands of dollars in vet bills.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
A motive was never revealed, but Ferreira said it appeared the perpetrator was “trying to poison any dog that barks.”
