Toronto Store Owner Says A Man Sprayed An Unknown Substance In His Public Dog Bowl (VIDEO)
The Queen Street East store was able to dump the bowl out before any dogs drank from it.
If you've ever walked along Queen Street East, you may have noticed that quite a few stores leave dog bowls out for pups in the neighbourhood to enjoy.
However, this weekend, one bowl was contaminated with an unknown substance, according to Spiritleaf Riverside owner and operator Michael Catalfamo.
On October 30, around 12:30 p.m., Catalfamo says a male individual on Queen Street East walked past the store and circled back to "spray something into the dog water bowl."
Catalfamo told Narcity the contaminated water had a "slight whiteish colouration" but no smell that he was aware of.
Video surveillance from the store shows a man walking by the store and out of sight only to turn back with something in his hand. The man appears to flick the lid of an item open and proceeds to squirt the unknown substance into the outdoor dog bowl.
A bystander who saw the incident reported it to a staff member who emptied out the bowl "before any dogs could be harmed," according to Catalfamo.
Catalfamo was at home during the incident, but he says after a staff member notified him about what happened, he looked over the store's cameras and "notified the police right away," at around 1:30 p.m.
Police showed up at the store around 3 p.m., according to Catalfamo, to write a report.
Since the water was dumped out immediately, "police couldn't take any samples" to identify what was poured into the water.
The owner says the incident is "quite disturbing" because they are "such a dog-friendly store and neighbourhood."
Toronto police did not respond to Narcity's request for comment in time for publication.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.