A police investigation determined that a dog ate mushrooms, not poison-laced treats, when it became sick last month after a visit to a Morton Grove trail, according to an official with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.
Stacina Stagner, communications manager for the forest preserve district, said police investigated after a social media post suggested that there were reports of “treats laced with rat poison” found on the trails of Linne Woods in Morton Grove.
Stagner said the police probe has closed.
“What they found was that the dog owner whose dog was sick, he ate mushrooms,” Stagner said. “It had gotten sick from that.”
A post on the Morton Grove Animal Hospital and Boarding Kennels Facebook page, dated Dec. 24, had stated there were reports of treats laced with rat poison on the trails. A few days later, a new post was added to the group’s Facebook page, stating, “we are relieved to find out that it was not poison the dogs were exposed to, but rather mushrooms” and added that “the dogs will make a full recovery.”
Officials had said police from the Forest Preserves of Cook County were in the area on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25. Stagner said the police investigation shows there was no evidence to support the concerns.
“When our detective went to the site, he discovered that there were three different types of mushrooms — all that are native to our area,” she said, adding the mushrooms were photographed and, “our chief wildlife biologist reviewed those mushrooms and said that the dog’s symptoms were consistent with having eaten mushrooms.”
Stagner said the forest preserve does not intend to remove the mushrooms, in part because they are native to the area.