Police have arrested a landscaper accused of poisoning dogs in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Kenneth Hyland, 53, is now in custody after neighbors claim they witnessed a landscaper purposely soaking hot dogs in a liquid believed to be anti-freeze and then leaving the meat out on the lawn in front of a commercial building. 

Chris O'Connell, a dog owner living near the Brick Layers and Allied Craftsmen Union on Medford Street, says he walks his dog by the building nearly every day. His dog, Terry, became violently ill around six months ago after eating a piece of hot dog left in the same area. "He was throwing up and he was urinating all over the floor. He couldn’t get up to go outside and go to the bathroom," he told CBS Boston. 

Last week, Chris and his brother Ryan were out walking when they say they saw a landscaper soaking hot dogs in a bucket with a green liquid they believe was anti-freeze. When they confronted him and asked if he was poisoning the dogs, they say he answered, "the ones that won't stay off the grass."

Chris and Ryan picked up pieces of hot dog for testing and filed a report with Boston Police. As word got out, other neighbors in the area came forward claiming their dogs were also poisoned and they also had seen the landscaper with a bucket of hot dogs on earlier occasions.

Local dog owners believe the man was retaliating because some dog owners had not been cleaning their dogs' waste of the lawn.

Police investigated and arrested Kenneth Hyland last week. He appeared in Charlestown District Court on Monday where he denied the charges. Apparently Hyland is well known to police has two other open cases involving "violent crimes" as well as a record of 30 guilty convictions dating back to 1981. He is being held on $5000 bail and was ordered by the judge to stay away from Charlestown, the witnesses and animals.

• charlestown
• Boston
• dog poisoning
• hot dogs