Tacks found in dog park
<p>Jo Ann Holloway of Post Falls stands with Maya, her 3-year-old heeler mix, on Friday at the Central Bark Dog Park. Holloway found four multicolored thumb tacks stuck sharp end down in the ground at the park, and is concerned for the safety of dogs and young children in the park.</p>
<p>Holloway’s 14-year-old shih tzu, Toby, checks out the patch of dead grass where Holloway found four thumb tacks protruding earlier this week.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE — Jo Ann Holloway left Central Bark Dog Park, a place she loves to regularly take her dogs, with a bad taste on Monday.
As she, her heeler mix Maya and shih tzu Toby were leaving the park off Atlas Road she noticed four push pins apparently pushed in the ground, creating a danger to dogs, kids and other park visitors.
"Obviously it was done on purpose," Holloway said. "This is very shocking. We go there three or four times a week — it has been a blessing to us — now I am wondering if someone is trying to hurt the animals. It was a very dangerous situation. I don't think they were just left there on accident. Otherwise they would have been strewn around. If they had just been dropped, they wouldn't be stuck in the ground."
In addition to being a potential hazard to a dog's paw or person's foot with a thin-soled shoe, it could be a disaster if the colorful pins were swallowed, she said. The color plastic ends were pointed up from the ground.
"Even the children are at risk now," she said, adding the colored pins could be mistaken for candy.
Holloway said dog parks are among the few designated places where dogs can meet and run loose and it's unfortunate that someone appears to have tried to jeopardize the experience.
"Now we must watch out for someone trying to hurt our sweet pets," she said.
Holloway wants her experience to be a warning to others — even if it's at a supposedly safe place for your dogs.
"I warned people to keep a look out, and everybody was appalled at what happened," she said.
Holloway said she spotted the pins near the sign at the entrance to the park in a muddy and mowed area. She said she threw them in the trash at the park after plucking them from the ground.