$1,500 Reward Offered in Poisoning of 7 Dogs : Canoga Park: Four pets died and at least three others were treated after eating strychnine-laced meat that was tossed into their yards.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus and a coalition of animal welfare groups Monday announced a $1,500 reward for information leading to the conviction of those who poisoned seven Canoga Park dogs with strychnine-laced meat patties earlier this month, killing four.

“We’re not going to let this happen in our community,” Picus told reporters and two dozen residents gathered at a home on Kittridge Street, near Oakdale Avenue, in the area where the poisonings occurred in the early hours of June 2.

“People have to learn that it’s against the law to kill dogs just as it is to kill people,” she said.

Four pets died and at least three others had to be treated after ingesting poisoned meat tossed into their back yards, apparently by someone walking along the edge of the Los Angeles River, which runs behind the homes.

The meat contained strychnine, a common ingredient in rat poisons that causes painful convulsions and death.

“I just figured it was a heart attack,” said Darla Hardy, 20, who found her 4-year-old Labrador mix convulsing and breathing heavily that morning. “It makes me angry that somebody would do this. . . . It just blows my mind.”

An investigation into the incident has so far produced few leads, said Lt. Richard Felosky of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation.

Investigators are looking for two young men seen walking toward a car parked illegally across from a home where two dogs were killed, he said.

Felosky said the poisonings appeared to be indiscriminate, as there has been no record of complaints of loud barking or other pet nuisances in the area.

The department is administering the reward, which is offered by the Southern California Veterinary Medical Assn. and Mercy Crusade, a Van Nuys animal-welfare organization.