 |
 |
|
August 14, 2002
Willow Glen, California Since 1992 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WG dogs poisoned, die July 28
|
|
| By
I-chun Che
|
|
The neighbors knew the Wallberg family's two
dogs—Gracie and Kona—well.
They resembled famous Hollywood legends Stan
Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
Gracie was a tiny, 11-year-old mix Labrador
retriever and German shepherd, while Kona was
an 80-pound chocolate Labrador. They always
chased each other. Although they barked at
strangers, they were friendly to the
neighbors and liked to play with children.
But in the early morning of July 28, Gracie
and Kona were poisoned to death in their
owner's backyard on Glenfield Drive. Gracie
died at 1:30 a.m. Kona died three hours
later.
"Our dogs were murdered," said Karen
Wallberg, 42. "I couldn't believe this could
happen. Willow Glen is supposed to be an
animal-friendly place."
The Wallbergs reported the incident that
morning to the San Jose Police Department and
to the Humane Society of Santa Clara Valley,
2530 Lafayette St., in Santa Clara. No
suspects have been caught as of yet, and no
similar incidents have been reported to the
police.
According to the California penal code, any
person guilty of maliciously maiming,
wounding or killing an animal may face a
$20,000 fine, imprisonment in a county jail
for up to a year, or both.
The family said they didn't
realize their dogs were poisoned until Kona
died.
On the night of July 27, the Wallbergs went
to a party. During the seven hours they were
not home, they left the family door and
screen door open so the dogs could stay
inside the house or play in the backyard as
they chose.
When the Wallberg family arrived home at 1
a.m., the dogs enthusiastically greeted them
as usual.
"They seemed fine," said Karen's husband,
Bill, 47. "They wagged their tails, jumped
off the ground and brushed their faces
against my legs. Everything seemed normal."
The couple got ready for bed around 1:15 a.m.
and whistled the two dogs into the master
bedroom, where they slept. When Gracie
proceeded upstairs, she suddenly went stiff
and fell back. Karen caught Gracie.
"I thought Gracie was having a heart attack
or a stroke because she was an old dog,"
Karen said. "I didn't suspect that she might
be poisoned."
After resting on the stairs for a while,
Gracie managed to climb upstairs and sleep on
her pillow. About 10 minutes later, however,
her moaning woke Karen. After another
seizure, Gracie died in the arms of Karen's
13-year-old son, Bradley.
Bill wrapped Gracie in a towel, laid her on
her pillow and put her in the garage. Kona
followed them downstairs.
"Kona was visibly sad about Gracie's death,"
Karen said. "She kept pacing, panting and
crying."
To calm Kona, Bill slept on the couch with
her in the living room. When he was waken up
by Kona's whining at 5 a.m., he noticed Kona
was showing the same symptoms as Gracie had.
"Kona was stiff and had trouble breathing,"
Bill said. "At that moment, I realized that
something was drastically wrong."
The couple and their 19-year-old son, Scott,
immediately sent Kona to the United Emergency
Animal Clinic, 1657 S. Bascom Ave., in
Campbell.
After checking on Kona, the doctor of the
animal clinic told them she suspected that
Kona had been poisoned.
"I literally fell to my knees," Karen said.
"I couldn't believe anyone could do this to
my dogs."
Karen said she was also worried about her
5-year-old niece, who had played with the
dogs all day long in the yard on Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday.
The doctor asked the Wallbergs to go home to
collect any vomit, diarrhea or anything
unusual in their backyard. But they didn't
find anything suspicious. For the children's
safety, the couple never used any snail baits
or rat poison.
When Bill called the animal clinic around
5:30 a.m. to tell the doctor he didn't find
anything unusual, the doctor told him that
Kona had died. Samples of Kona's blood and
intestines were sent to a toxicology lab for
testing.
"We lost two family members in three hours,"
Karen said with tears in her eyes. "It was
three hours of hell."
The family was devastated by the loss. The
children have since lost their appetite, and
Karen has to take pills to help her sleep.
Her niece is fine but is no longer allowed to
play in the backyard alone.
The neighbors were shocked by the news.
Jean Schick, who lives across from the
Wallbergs, said she couldn't imagine why
anyone would want to harm the two dogs.
"The family took very good care of the dogs,"
said Schick, 69. "We never had problems with
them."
Schick said she is concerned because she has
a 4-year-old fox terrier.
"I will watch her more closely when she is in
the backyard," Schick said.
For the past two weeks, the Wallbergs have
been distributing flyers, warning the
neighbors to check their yards before letting
their children and pets play. They also hope
neighbors can help them with the
investigation.
"The tragedy my family is living through is
unbelievable," Karen said. "We just hope this
will not happen to another family."
|
|
|
|
|
|