MISSOULA — The Ravalli County Sheriff's Office reports it can find "no evidence" that three dogs which died in the northern Bitterroot were poisoned.
The reports of possible dog poisonings cropped up last month in the Stevensville area.
Owners like Trevor and Courtney Ferguson reported their prize bird dog Sula was critically ill after an outing up Dry Creek.
Ferguson, who is a vet, told us he'd seen other dogs with similar symptoms and felt someone was using tainted dog food as "bait".
However, investigators with the Sheriff's Office say they've been unable to confirm dogs were actually poisoned.
The Sheriff's Office looked at several possible causes for the dog deaths, sending toxicology and environmental samples to a lab in Billings as well as checking results from Rocky Mountain Labs in Hamilton.
But they say the tests showed "the dogs were not poisoned by a chemical or criminal means."
