NewsWest 9
ODESSA - An Odessa neighborhood is on high alert after several dogs in the area have turned up dead. What's even more shocking, many of them were poisoned.
In the neighborhood of 18th and Coronado in Odessa, neighbors tell NewsWest 9 this has been happening for a while now. Another dog was poisoned just this past Wednesday.
Odessa police are now investigating because although this has been going on for some time, this is the first time someone actually witnessed it as it was happening.
Just like she does everyday, this resident, who did not want to be identified, let her dog out in the front yard when she noticed something suspicious.
"They were all in a huddle and I was like 'What are they doing?' and that's when I was putting on my shoes and I looked again and they threw it," the resident said.
She said it looked like they were giving her dog a piece of chicken.
"At first, I was wondering why they were feeding her because you know who feeds somebody else's dog," the resident said. "I didn't think anything of it until she started getting sick."
The dog started having seizures and was even clinically dead for a few seconds before a vet was able to bring her back to life.
Her dog survived but what the vet found inside was disturbing.
"There was rat poison and some other chemical," she said. "She already finished it and she ran towards me so I didn't even go look at what they threw. When they saw me run out, they got in their car and drove off."
The same thing happened to Bebe Prieto's dog.
"We just heard him and we went over there and he was stiff and shaking and dying," Prieto said. "It was horrible, it was very sad."
And just like many of her neighbors have come to find out, this isn't the first time an animal has been poisoned.
"We found out after, that the person living here before had their dog in the same exact place, same exact thing happened," Prieto said.
Bebe, along with her neighbors, hope police will catch whoever's behind this so they can put the suspects behind bars.
"Just because they're dogs doesn't mean they're not important," Prieto said. "If somebody has the guts to come and do that, they're just going to get more bold at it."
"It's happened before so I hope they can just make it stop," the concerned resident said. "Just keep them inside until this is solved."
Odessa police are still in the early stages of their investigation. Right now, they don't have any suspects but some of the neighbors on Coronado said they have an idea who they think it could be.