‘Disturbing’ incident in which hooked dog treats were found on the Appalachian Trail. What you should know

Police officers are searching for the person who stuck fish hooks into dog treats and left them along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail in southeastern Pennsylvania.

According to Dustin Stoner, information and education officer for the southeastern Pa. region. Game Commission, a group of hikers Sunday found about a dozen dog treats with fish hooks about an inch or more long.

The incident occurred near the North Trail Loop leading to an animal shelter at State Game Lands 217 in Washington Township, Lehigh County.

“It is believed that these dog treats were placed with the intent to be consumed by either wild animals or domestic animals, primarily dogs,” Stoner said in a telephone interview.

“At this point we don’t have anyone we’re looking for, we don’t have any leads on anyone who might have put these things out there. So we don’t know what the actual intention or motive was and why they would have placed it. “From what we discovered, this is a disturbed individual who wanted to harm wildlife or pets, such as someone’s dog,” Stoner said.

Treats would kill any animal that ate them

Wildlife such as raccoons, opossums and larger animals may eat the treats and hooks.

“It would be a very painful death for the animal that ate her,” Stoner said.

While some fishermen use large baits for fishing such as catfishing, this incident appears to have nothing to do with fishing.

“This was not an area where there was fishing or anything like that. It was pretty far from any creek, creek, pond or anything like that,” Stoner said.

When the hikers found her, they made a concerted effort to recover any additional tidbits.

When the Game Commission was made aware of the incident, several wardens also combed the area to see if any other delicacies remained.

“We didn’t find any more,” Stoner said. “Hopefully all of these laced treats have been found and removed from the landscape. Wardens placed notices at trailheads in the area.

Notified other wildlife agencies

Because the incident occurred on a trail that stretched from Georgia to Maine, the commission also notified the National Park Service and other law enforcement agencies of the incident.

“They have not communicated anything about this happening at other locations along the trail. We believe it is a local who may have been on a day trip, but we can’t say that with 100 percent certainty,” Stoner said. “We just don’t know.”

How to report further incidents

If anyone has information about the incident or finds additional insight, the agency asks that they call them at 1-888-PGC-WILD or 1-888-PGC-HUNT.

“It’s very disturbing to know that people have such disregard for wildlife and dogs that may be walking up there with their owners,” Stoner said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Stoner was not aware of any dogs or wild animals consuming the treats.

Brian Whipkey is an outdoor columnist for the USA TODAY Network’s Pennsylvania locations. Contact him at [email protected] and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA email newsletter using your login name on the home page of this website. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoorsand Instagram at Whipkey outdoors.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Appalachian Trail in PA: Dog treats found with fish hooks