A gang of thieves poisoned 13 dogs in a remote village in Pursat province on as their owners slept on Wednesday night, making off with one motorbike, police said on Thursday.
“The suspects drove motorbikes throwing pork containing poison to the dogs in the village,” said Bakan district police chief Neang Vuth.
With no dogs left to alert the six affected families in Talou commune’s Prey Kantout village, the thieves likely had intended additional thefts, he said.
Thon Thim, 36, alerted police at about 1 a.m. on Thursday morning after finding that his two dogs had been killed, Mr. Vuth said.
Samples of the bright purple poison-laced pork have been recovered, but Mr. Vuth said no tests had been conducted to determine the poison.
He said there had been no cases of such dog poisoning-assisted thefts in the district in the last two to three years, following an increase in nightly police patrols.
He said police had no suspects in the current case.
