Pennsylvania Game Commission officials are attempting to locate the person who left dog treats embedded with fish hooks along a trail in Lehigh County this past weekend.
Dustin Stoner, who is in charge of information and education at the commission’s southeast office, mentioned that hikers discovered the contaminated treats on Sunday near the George W. Outerbridge shelter on the Appalachian Trail close to State Game Lands 217 in Washington Township. They were found not far from the Lehigh Gap Nature Center.
According to him, the fishhooks were hidden in the soft filling of the treats. The hikers then scoured the area in search of more of the treats.
“They picked every one up that they found,” he said.
Stoner mentioned the hikers then sent photos of the treats to the Lehigh Gap Nature Center email account. Game wardens saw the email on Monday morning and searched the area for more of the treats, but they did not find any. It’s likely that the treats found Sunday had not been there very long, according to Stoner.
The game commission put up notices on social media and along the trailheads and parking areas, advising people about the treats. Stoner stated that as of Wednesday morning, the game commission had not received any reports of pets or wildlife being injured by the treats.
“At this time we’re still working on trying to find out who may have done this,” he said, adding that the commission will charge them with all applicable offenses.
So far, there have not been any reports of the treats appearing in other areas nearby. Stoner mentioned that the commission has been in contact with the National Park Service and has not received any similar reports.
He mentioned something like this is extremely uncommon, and added that he could not recall anything similar in recent years.
“This incident is obviously pretty unique and pretty disturbing,” he said.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the game commission at 833-PGC-WILD. Stoner said the game commission would like to hear from anyone who was in the area over the weekend that could give them leads, including descriptions of vehicles.
