R.I. Senior Dog Rescue 'Horrified' After Finding Chunks of Rat Poison Scattered Around Its Yard (Exclusive)

Vintage Pet Rescue says one of its dogs consumed some of the poison before it was removed

A senior dog rescue in Rhode Island is working to return to normal after a "weird and unnerving" incident.

On July 29, Vintage Pet Rescue, a nonprofit in Foster, R.I., dedicated to finding loving homes for senior dogs, found at least seven chunks of rat poison scattered on the fences surrounding the rescue, according to the organization's founder Kristen Peralta.

Peralta tells PEOPLE she found the first piece of bright red poison, which had a "Play-Doh-like texture," in the morning "on the way to bring four dogs to the vet" after the rescue had already let its 32 dogs outside for some time in the facility's fenced yards.

"We have a volunteer who comes in the morning to let the dogs out in the backyard. I think it was right around 10:00 a.m. I saw this chunk outside the front door, just a weird red thing on our fence. And I was just like, 'What is that?'" the founder said of finding the first piece of rat poison.

"I had no idea what it was, and I just threw it out," she adds.

Vintage Pet Rescue later learned what the mystery substance was after the organization found another chunk, which still had a piece of the wrapper attached.

"Half an hour later, I went to the other gate to grab dogs to go to the vet, and that's when I noticed the second piece that actually had the label on it. At that point, I looked and saw it said right on it that it was rat poison," Peralta says.

Related: Nevada Rescue Dog Looking for a Home Again After Family Returned Pet for Being 'Too Boring'

After this horrifying discovery, Peralta started to scan the rescue's outdoor area and soon found "three other big chunks" of rat poison nearby, all placed right on top of the rescue's fences.

Peralta brought the find to her husband, who helps her run the rescue, and he "freaked out" because he saw one of the rescue's dogs eating something earlier that looked the same shade of red. At the time, he thought the dog, one of the rescue's younger pups named Bug, was chewing on a toy, but now he feared it was rat poison.

In response, Peralta's husband rushed five-year-old Bug to the vet while Peralta and a volunteer walked the whole perimeter of the rescue to look for more rat poison.

"I think in total, we found seven big chunks. And again, all put on top of our fences. If they really wanted to hurt the dogs, they would've just thrown it over the fence into the grass because we never would've seen it. And who knows what would've happened? They would've eaten it without us knowing it was out there. But they put it on top of the fences, so it almost felt like a threat." Peralta shares.

Thankfully, this strange and cruel act didn't kill any of Vintage Pet Rescue's furry residents. Bug reached the vet about 45 minutes after ingesting the poison. The veterinarian induced vomiting and Bug regurgitated the rat poison. The little dog is on medication for a few weeks to ensure he recovers fully and is "doing great."

"Luckily, he's one of our younger, healthier dogs. If this had happened to one of our dogs in kidney failure or liver failure, it could have killed them," Peralta says.

After Bug's emergency vet visit, Vintage Pet Rescue reported the rat poison incident to the Foster Police Department. Peralta and her husband took photos of where they found the poison and provided witness statements. Unfortunately, the rescue did not have any footage to provide.

"We did have Bcameras outside our gates. Unfortunately, they weren't set to record. They were just the live view," Peralta explains.

Since finding the rat poison, Vintage Pet Rescue has added six outdoor recording cameras, motion sensors, and floodlights to keep something like this from happening again. The motivations of the unknown individual who did this are unclear, which is one of the hardest parts of this experience for Peralta.

"Everyone's horrified," she says. "I'd really love to know why it happened. I'd love to know if I pissed someone off online or if I was driving the Vintage Pet Rescue car and made someone mad while driving,"

Vintage Pet Rescue and the Foster Police Department have no leads on who left the poison behind and why.

"Going forward, I just don't want it to happen again, and so that's why the cameras are out there, and we're making a big stink about it, basically," Peralta says.

Related: Nevada Rescue Dog Looking for a Home Again After Family Returned Pet for Being 'Too Boring'

The founder adds that she is "much more aware" of her surroundings at the rescue since the incident.

"Before, I would let the dogs out whenever they wanted to go out, and I'd just watch them. But now, I'll go out and walk around first. I'm always watching. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is check the cameras to see if there was any overnight activity. It's definitely spooked me," she says.

But Peralta is clear that she will not let this unsettling event affect the quality of life of the senior dogs who call the rescue home.

"I'm not going to be terrified and change my whole everything and not let the dogs out because of this. Then they win," she says.

With new precautions in place, Vintage Pet Rescue is looking toward the future, which includes its A Special Day for Special Dogs event.

"It focuses on our special needs animals. It's an event to bring together all these special needs animals in the United States. We do wheelchair races. We do a three-legged race. It's super fun. That's always a great time. It's October 19," Peralta says.

Peralta has three suggestions for those looking to help Vintage Pet Rescue after this alarming incident. The first, and perhaps the most important, is a request that anyone with information on who left the rat poison around the rescue speak with the Foster Police Department in Rhode Island.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Peralta also suggests that animal lovers looking to help Vintage Pet Rescue's senior dogs should consider adopting one of their pups—Peralta is partial to senior Chihuahuas—or donating to the rescue.

"Every dog we're taking in this year needs two or three surgeries, so we're spending close to $50,000 a month on vet bills," Peralta says, adding, "Our biggest need right now is just monetary donations to pay for the surgeries."

To learn more about Vintage Pet Rescue and its life-saving work, visit the rescue's website.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.