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SALT LAKE CITY — The owner of a dog who was poisoned by aspirin-laced meatballs this past weekend wants to know who did it and why.
Teri Niccoli and her dog, Luna, live near 900 East and 900 South in Salt Lake City. Their mystery began on Christmas Eve, when Luna suddenly started getting sick.
Niccoli says Luna came out on Saturday, as she usually does, to romp in her courtyard play area. But something just wasn't right.
"Christmas Eve morning, she had gotten sick. She threw up a few times," said Niccoli said.
The dog owner looked around the courtyard that day and found three meatballs someone evidently threw over the wall — two of which she still has in her freezer. She started worrying even more Christmas night when Luna got sick again.
Veterinarian Anne Fairbanks examined Luna and the contents of the meatball and found some surprising ingredients: aspirin tablets. "Many aspirin tablets," she said. "The (meatball) I saw had about 16 of them."
Those tablets added up to more than 5,000 milligrams of the drug. Multiply that by three meatballs, plus at least one more that Luna may have partially eaten, and you've got an equation for disaster.
"I remember now seeing, earlier in the week, something partially broken that had the same shape," Niccoli said.
No human should take that. No dog should take that. That was a very large, intended dose to try and cause harm, in my opinion.
–Anne Fairbanks, veterinarian
Luna's treatment continues, but she's recovering nicely. Still, that much aspirin can cause bleeding ulcers, and sometimes kidney and liver damage.
"No human should take that. No dog should take that," Fairbanks said. "That was a very large, intended dose to try and cause harm, in my opinion."
What may have saved Luna is that she probably didn't like the taste and didn't eat much.
"It's the worst feeling ever. I've never experienced anything like this before, and she's my family," Niccoli said. "I can't comprehend who would do it. That's why I kind of feel helpless in a way."
There are many dogs in Niccoli's neighborhood, and a lot of them bark when people walk by, including Luna. But her owner says that's what dogs are supposed to do. It's unclear if someone got upset about that or targeted Luna for some other reason.
Email: hollenhorst@ksl.com
