Meat spiked with needles left for dogs in Roundwood Park

Nicole O’Brien and a friend were walking their dogs in Roundwood Park, Willesden, on June 13 when her friend’s husky Nuka headed for an object on the ground.

Nicole said: “My friend turned around looking for her dog and saw he was about to eat something and shouted ‘no’. 

A look at the spiked meat and mesh (Image: Handout)

“We went up to see what it was and he managed to grab him just in time, he might have even licked it.”

Neither realised how lethal the booby-trapped meat was until Nicole took a closer look.

She said: “It just looked strange, when it was on the ground it looked sort of like organ meat.

"We were about to walk off and leave it but I thought there was something weird about it so I went back and picked it up and actually nearly stabbed myself with one of the needles when I flicked it over.”

Another look at the spiked meat (Image: Handout)

Nicole called it a moment of “blind panic”.

She said: “If an animal bit down to it there would have been serious injury, the pins that were stuck down to it were long.”

Even then, the two dog lovers began frantically trying to find a way to rinse Nuka's nose in case the meat was also poisoned.

The horrified pair reported the find to park staff, who disposed of it safely.

“We couldn’t leave it in any bin because there were animals coming in and out to scavenge,” she explained.

Nicole, 31, has lived in the area all her life. She currently owns two dogs, Loki and Freyja, and has walked other family dogs in the park in the past.

Despite hearing rumours of poisoned meat, she says this is the first time she has encountered anything like this.

“It completely changes how you use the park,” she added. “We’re always quite considerate with our dogs, keeping them away from people as we don’t want to be disruptive.

“Now they’re never off the lead in Roundwood, it makes it more stressful for us as we’re trying to give them as much as we can while they’re restricted on the lead.

Nicole O’Brien and her pet dog (Image: Handout)

“We’re now really paranoid of everything that is going on, the dogs are sniffing the ground constantly - what have they got?”

Kelly Eaton, the head of parks and green infrastructure at Brent Council, said she had “spoken directly” to those who reported the issue - although Ms O’Brien has claimed she is yet to get a response.

Ms Eaton said: “This is an alarming incident and one we take very seriously as this could have been exceptionally dangerous for animals and residents, especially young children. 

“We are thankful that there were no injuries and grateful to the residents that flagged this issue.”

She added: “Our park staff have been made aware of this and will monitor the parks to ensure they remain safe.

“Thankfully, these incidents are rare and we do our best to regularly inspect all our parks, however, residents are advised to always be vigilant in public spaces.”