A Belfast man has warned dog walkers to be vigilant after an “abhorrent” attempt to harm animals at a south Belfast playing fields.
The dog walker was among a group walking their pets in the area of the Dub playing fields, Malone House and Shawsbridge on Tuesday morning, when they encountered several balls of meat which had been inserted with metal tacks.
The man, who did not wish to be named, said the group had found between 10 and 12 of the hazardous items.
The incident has been reported to the PSNI, Belfast City Council and to Queen’s University, which owns the Malone Road playing fields.
“I’ve been walking dogs in this area for 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” the local resident said.
“We met at Shawsbridge and walked down through what we call the forest at Malone House and then on to the pitches.
“We found between 10 and 12 of these things, luckily our own dogs didn’t get a chance to get near them but other dogs certainly will have.
“Each of the pieces of meat had about seven or eight of the tacks in them, the damage they could have done to a poor dog is unthinkable.
“We removed all of the ones that we had seen, but I would just urge anyone walking their dog in that area to be so careful.”
Donal Lyons, SDLP councillor for Balmoral, said the “abhorrent” attack was a blatant attempt to cause suffering to animals.
“This is deeply disturbing and you have to wonder what is going through a person’s mind that would drive them to do this,” he said.
“Setting out with the intent of inflicting such horrific pain on an animal is abhorrent. It’s not only a hazard to family pets, but also to local wildlife such as foxes.
“I’ve alerted the council’s parks team and asked the wardens to keep a watchful eye out. I’d ask dog owners to do the same when out walking, and to keep their leash short. I’ve no doubt that this is nothing short of animal cruelty.”
The PSNI said it had received a report on Tuesday 14th January in relation to a number of pieces of meat being found in the Malone Road area of south Belfast which contained harmful objects.
Queen’s University said it had not received any reports but staff based at that site are carrying out extra patrols and will remain vigilant of the issue.
