A family in the village of Cobá says both of its dogs woke with signs of poisoning before dawn on Saturday. One of them, a dog called Pulga, died despite the family's attempts to save him.
The second dog, Balú, had lived with the family for about six years. He was stabilized, but the family says he remains weak and under observation.
It is the second report of a suspected dog poisoning in the Tulum municipality in the space of two days, and it lands while state prosecutors already have an open file on the death of a dog at the Unidad Deportiva de Tulum on July 23. Neither case has produced a public toxicology result. No authority has identified anyone as responsible in either one.
Symptoms started before dawn in Cobá
According to the family's complaint, both animals began showing signs of intoxication during the early hours of Saturday, July 25. The owners tried to help them. Pulga did not survive.
The family described the loss as a hard blow, saying Pulga had been part of their household for years, and said they are hoping Balú pulls through. They called what happened an act of cruelty and asked that the case be investigated to establish what the animals ingested and, if poisoning is confirmed, who was responsible.
No one has publicly said who might have placed or administered any toxic substance. The circumstances rest entirely on what the owners have described. As of publication, neither the Fiscalía General del Estado nor the Tulum municipal government had commented publicly on the Cobá report, and The Tulum Times has not independently confirmed the family's account. Cobá sits about 45 kilometers inland from the coast and falls inside the Tulum municipality.
Wakax died two days earlier at the Unidad Deportiva
On Thursday, July 23, an owner who identified himself on social media as Manuel posted a video showing his pitbull, Wakax, dead. He said the two of them had gone to the Unidad Deportiva de Tulum, a facility they used regularly for exercise, and that the dog began showing symptoms roughly half an hour after they arrived. He took the animal to a veterinary clinic, where the dog died. According to his account, the veterinarian's preliminary assessment pointed to intoxication by a substance that has not been identified.
He then returned to the sports complex carrying the body.
What turned the case into a municipal issue was what residents said had circulated beforehand. In the days prior, posts from fake social media profiles warned that poison would be placed to stop dogs from entering the facility, on the argument that the space was for sport only. Residents have asked authorities to trace those accounts. The civic group Conexión Caribe called on the state prosecutor's office, the Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana, Bienestar Animal and the Tulum city government to review security camera footage, follow the trail of the threatening posts, and identify whoever may have left a substance at the site.
The Fiscalía General del Estado confirmed it opened a carpeta de investigación through its Fiscalía Especializada en Combate a los Delitos Ambientales, la Fauna y el Desarrollo Urbano, for acts that may constitute environmental crimes. The office said it is gathering evidence to verify the reported facts and, where warranted, determine whether a crime occurred. The Tulum city government said its Dirección de Ecología is working with the state and environmental prosecutors and would follow the case. A peaceful march was called at the Unidad Deportiva for 7 p.m. that same Thursday.
No toxicology result has been made public in either case
This is the part that has not moved. In the Wakax case, the assessment attributing the death to poisoning came from a veterinarian's preliminary evaluation, not from a laboratory report, and no toxicological finding has been released that establishes what the animal ingested or where. The same gap applies to the Cobá case, where the only account available is the family's.
Residents online have split over how to read it. Some have pushed for an immediate investigation and for the sports complex to be swept. Others have argued for waiting on official results, pointing out that a dog can die suddenly from a venomous animal, an illness, heat stroke, or an unknown substance picked up anywhere along a walk.
The two reports have been widely connected on local social media. No authority has connected them. They involve different animals in different communities roughly 45 kilometers apart, two days apart, and the prosecutor's file covers only the death at the Unidad Deportiva.
Four to 10 years when cruelty kills
Quintana Roo hardened its animal cruelty penalties in April 2026. The state legislature approved a reform to articles 179 Bis and 179 Ter of the penal code that raised the sentence for cruelty causing an animal's death from a range of four to six years to a range of four to 10 years, with fines of 200 to 600 days. Cruelty that does not endanger the animal's life now carries one to seven years and fines of 50 to 140 days.
A separate reform published at the end of 2023 made these offenses prosecutable de oficio, which means ministerial authorities can open an investigation without an owner filing a criminal complaint first. The specialized environmental and wildlife prosecutor's office now handling the Wakax file was created that same year.
How to lower the risk of dog poisoning in Tulum
Rogelio Robles Camacho, vice president of the Cancún animal welfare association Dejando Huella, said the Tulum case should function as a warning for owners across the region. He estimated that five out of every 10 dogs are still walked without a leash, a habit that raises the chance an animal will swallow food or a substance left on the ground. A loose dog, he said, acts on instinct.
What veterinarians and animal welfare groups are asking owners to do:
- Keep the dog on a leash at all times, including inside parks and sports fields.
- Walk looking a few steps ahead at the ground, not at your phone.
- Do not let the dog eat, lick, or nose through food scraps, packaging, or anything unidentified on the street.
- Use a basket muzzle for dogs that scavenge compulsively. It still allows panting and drinking.
- Avoid areas where reports have circulated until authorities have inspected them.
- Learn the warning signs: vomiting, drooling, tremors, seizures, sudden weakness, difficulty breathing.
- Go straight to a veterinarian at the first symptom. Do not wait to see whether it passes, and if you can safely identify what the animal ate, tell the clinic.
Two numbers for reporting animal cruelty
Quintana Roo authorities have circulated two channels for reporting suspected cruelty: 911, and the state line 983 129 2758. Cases can also be raised with the municipal Dirección de Ecología and with Bienestar Animal. Owners who suspect poisoning are advised to keep whatever documentation they have, including the veterinary record, photographs, the exact location, and the time the symptoms started.
The Cobá family says Balú is still weak. In Tulum, the file on Wakax stays open, and the prosecutor's office has not said when a toxicology result will be available or whether the accounts behind the threatening posts have been traced.
What should the municipality be doing to make Tulum's parks and sports fields safe for the dogs that use them every day? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.