The Simons were letting their two dogs run in Crystal's Welcome Park hockey rink/dog park Saturday when Jason Simon saw their Bernese mountain dog Siona pick up something odd to chew on.

Looking closer, Simon recognized the bluish brick as mice and rat poison, and started pulling it out of the dog's mouth.

The Simons, who live in Crystal, used their water bottle to flush the dog's mouth, cleaning the blue-green stuff off her teeth. Then Connie Simon called police.

Police verified that the material was poison and put out a Facebook warning that asked anyone who saw anything suspicious at the dog park to call 911, said Officer Jessica Donahue. She said it was the first time she's heard of rat poison being found in a Crystal park.

Connie Simon said Siona apparently didn't swallow the poison and is fine.

Police had no suspects Sunday. Donahue said police checked the dog park but found no more poison. They posted signs alerting dog owners that poison had been found there.

Veterinarian Kara Nelsen said it's common to treat pets that eat vermin poison, but she has never heard of such poison being found in a dog park. Nelsen, medical leader for Affiliated Emergency Veterinary Service's seven 24-hour clinics in Minnesota, including one in Golden Valley, get several accidental-poisoning cases a month.

Jim Adams