DES PLAINES, Ill. — Police are warning pet owners in the northwestern suburbs after a Des Plaines resident discovered suspicious hot dogs outside her home.

The resident told Riser Animal Hospital in Skokie about the incident, and employee Mel Dziedzic post a photo of the hot dogs to Facebook and recounted what happened:

“Today a client brought in these pieces of hot dog that were placed around front lawns in Des Plaines. They are hot dogs that have been injected with rat poison. Everybody knows that you do not need to put rat poison in hot dogs for rats to eat it. It pains me to say it, but the creep that put these out was trying to harm dogs. PLEASE be careful when walking your pets. Dogs pick up so many things before we can even catch them, so just please remember that people are horrible and that the outside ground unfortunately cannot always be trusted. PLEASE SHARE IF YOU LIVE IN CHICAGO OR SURROUNDING SUBURBS.”

Dziedzic’s post has gone viral with over 12,000 share in just over 24 hours.

Police tell WGN they are investigating the incident. However, the hot dogs have been thrown away, so they have no direct evidence.