Shelter dog could have been poisoned

ATTICA, Ind. (WLFI) - Just last Saturday, Flynn was improving tremendously. Just a few days before this video was taken, someone broke into the Paws'N'Claws Animal Shelter in Attica and forced Flynn to fight another dog.

A few days after this video was taken, Dr. Tracy Sudlow said she noticed a change in Flynn's personality.

"That evening he was just quiet, just not acting like himself and we didn't really think much of it. He had a big day," said Dr. Sudlow. "Then the  following day, we noticed he didn't want to eat his breakfast, and then shortly after that, he broke with the diarrhea."

Dr. Sudlow said they also had four kittens die a few days after the break-in. She said she believes the kittens' died from an upper respiratory infection not associated with the break-in. However with Flynn, she said she's not so sure.

"They did vomit up some particular matter," said Dr. Sudlow. "It was a green, granular type substance that's usually associated with a rodenticide toxicity, which is like rat poison."

Dr. Sudlow said Flynn has been vomiting since Monday and will not touch his food. She said he has lost about 15 pounds and said they've been giving him fluids constantly.

Dr. Sudlow said they are working with a toxicologist at Purdue to determine what exactly could be in Flynn's system. She said they have ruled out rat poison and a few other viruses that normally cause bloody diarrhea.

Dr. Sudlow said while she believes Flynn could have been poisoned, she said the situation he was placed in could also be the cause.

"Stress is definitely going to have some physiological effects on them," said Dr. Sudlow. "So, he could very well just broke with a severe bacterial infection and now that's causing some of the diarrhea, I'm not real sure, but we're not going to rule out toxicity until we hear back from our specialist."

Dr. Sudlow said they could hear back from the toxicologist, as early as Friday evening. Yet, police said if the person responsible did poison the animals, they would not face an extra charge. Rather, their charge of Cruelty to Animals, would simply carry more weight.

"It will not make it any more serious, but each count will be a separate count on them and hopefully when it comes to the sentencing time, that will be taken into consideration if they did poison the animal," said Attica Police Chief Bobby Bass.

Chief Bass said they have interviewed several people of interest and will conduct polygraph tests soon. He said he encourages anyone with any information to contact the Attica Police Department. Chief Bass said the reward for catching the persons responsible has increased from $1,000 to up to $4,000.