A dog was killed last week at the Elliott Bay Marina after eating cat food laced with strychnine.
The owner of the dog says someone who keeps a boat at the marina, and was targeting otters, is to blame.
Marina general manager, Dwight Jones, has sent out postcards to all marina tenants reminding them that the otters were here first. He denounced the incident.
"This was one boater with a bad idea," he said.
The 3-year-old Pomeranian mix named Teddi was running along the marina's Dock B the afternoon of Oct. 5 when she came upon a tin of cat food that had been laced with the toxic alkaloid.
About 30 minutes later, Teddi's owner, Glenn Bionci, noticed the dog had gone into a seizure. He quickly scooped her up and took her to a veterinarian in Interbay. Staff urged him to take the dog to a specialist in Shoreline.
"She kept having seizures," Bionci said. "Then she went into arrest and died."
Bionci spoke with staff at the Shoreline hospital who told him it was likely strychnine. Alison Jensen, a veterinarian at Animal Medical Center of Seattle and treated Teddi has spoken with the ASPCA. That organization said it was going to investigate the matter.
Bionci, who lives in Queen Anne, visits his sailboat at the marina at 2601 West Marina Place a few times a week and brings Teddi with him. He's certain the cat food was aimed at sea otters, which have become a nuisance to some boaters. The otters get into the boats where they make nests, leave food scraps and, worst of all, defecate in boats, on coiled lines and cleats.
The otter's waste is pungent, and its acidity is enough to eat away at the paint coating on some boats. Boaters have tried several ways to keep the otters away: moth balls, coyote urine and tarps to cover entry points. None have worked.
Larry Schildwachter, owner of Emerald Harbor Marine at the marina, and who has worked at the marina since its opening in 1991, said he has heard of the animals hiding in the dingy racks, inside boats, under and over canvas tarps, just about anywhere. He said one otter ripped up the seats inside the Sea Ray belonging to former harbormaster Martin Harder. He's also heard of the animal's cousin, the muskrat, crawling into the exhaust lines of some vessels in the freshwater of Lake Washington and tearing apart the rubber fuel lines.
"Once an otter gets a place he likes, it's hard to get him out," Schildwachter said, looking out over the slips in the marina, his black lab and office pet, Sweethart, standing nearby. One way to solve the problem would be for boat owners to visit their boats more often, Schildwachter said. Another might be swapping slips with another boat.
Other marinas have had issues with otters, too. At Oak Harbor, on Whidbey Island, the slippery critters and birds are causing some consternation. Both kinds of creatures are defecating on the boats and the lines.
"It gets worse, it seems in the winter time when there isn't enough human activity," said harbormaster Mack Funk. "And it's that activity that scares them." Funk said boaters have tried a handful of remedies, some have talked about using hot sauce and a trapper has mentioned setting up an electric fence a few inches off the ground.
In Magnolia, Jones is thinking about using cayenne pepper. He bought some recently at the Ace Hardware in Magnolia, to address the raccoons that have been eating the grass in his yard. It's been two days and, "so far so good," he said. The otters may be next.
Since 1981, sea otters have been listed as endangered by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and are a federal species of concern with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 1970, 59 otters were transported from Alaska to Washington and as of 2004 the local population has grown to estimates of 1,372 to 2,734.
While the endangered listings may be helping otter populations in Washington, the environmentally sound marina may be helping them in Magnolia. Elliott Bay Marina is one of the most environmentally friendly marinas in existence. Its pilings and docks are made of cement and use no creosote, which is used to protect wooden pilings and is known to be toxic. The rock breakwater at the marina has become an artificial reef and has encouraged the growth of underwater plants such as kelp. Openings between the breakwaters, docks and beach allow juvenile salmon to migrate.
The concrete pilings and docks have attracted seaweed, barnacles and mussels. Those life forms have attracted small bugs and sea life that have in turn attracted fish, otters and a variety of fowl including herons, seagulls and kingfishers.
"The marine life is flourishing here," said Joe Weibler a concierge at the marina.
Jones said the marina is a healthy environment and that otters and other wildlife are merely a part of that.
"They're around all the time," he said. "There are lots of ways to deal with them that don't involve harming them."
He has asked all boaters around Bonci's boat if they left the cat food out. All have denied doing so, and Jones isn't hopeful of getting to the truth. If a culprit is found, Bonci wants the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prosecute the individual.
"This is a serious crime," he said. "We'll see what charges can be brought."[[In-content Ad]]
