Police in Hong Kong Tuesday were hot on the scent of a mystery poisoner who has been laying poison bait for 19 years and is believed to have killed more than 100 pets, reports dpa.
Meat tainted with insecticide has been found at various spots in Hong Kong's Mid Levels residential area where the poisoner has conducted his anti-dog vendetta for nearly two decades.
A police spokesman said some spiked bait was found Monday morning and police later found several more pieces of tainted meat in the upmarket neighbourhood where wealthy residents walk their pets.
Police patrols have been stepped up in the area and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has reminded people of a long-standing 20,000-US-dollar reward to capture the elusive culprit.
More than 100 dogs have been killed and scores more barely survived after eating bait left by the poisoner, who is believed to be an elderly Chinese man once seen leaving meat on the ground.
His most famous victim was the dog of Hong Kong's last colonial governor Chris Patten, a Norfolk terrier called Whisky that survived swallowing poisoned lumps of chicken in 1997.
Criminal psychologists who have examined the cases believe the killer may have an obsessive dislike of dogs who foul footpaths and may have begun his campaign as a means of revenge.