Shanghai Woman Fined 18,000 Yuan After Poisoned Food Kills Two Pet Dogs

A woman in Shanghai has been ordered to pay over 18,000 yuan (US$2,500) in compensation after two pet dogs died from poisoned food she scattered in her residential compound, Shanghai Morning Post reported on Friday.

The case dates back to October 1, 2022, when two border collies owned by residents surnamed Li and Hou began vomiting and convulsing shortly after returning from an evening walk in the Pudong New Area.

Despite emergency treatment, both dogs died in the early hours of the following day, according to a judgment released by the Pudong New Area People's Court.

Police later reviewed surveillance footage showing a neighbor, a woman surnamed Peng, dropping granular food on a patch of grass near a building entrance. Tests detected fluoroacetate – a highly toxic chemical formerly used in rat poison and now banned in China – in the dogs' stomach contents and in food remnants found at the scene.

Peng admitted to putting out the poisoned food but insisted she did not mean to kill the dogs. She said the animals often roamed freely, barked day and night and seriously affected her daily life, and that she had hoped only to "deter" them.

The court rejected that argument, finding Peng at fault for causing the dogs' deaths. Li and Hou later filed separate civil suits, seeking 29,000 yuan and 23,000 yuan respectively for losses and emotional distress.

In rulings issued in June 2024 and May 2025, the court ordered Peng to pay Li 11,695 yuan and Hou 6,510 yuan, including 1,000 yuan each for emotional distress.

"Pets are companions, and their loss can be deeply painful for owners," the judge said. "That reality should be reflected in compensation."