Owner of poisoned dogs wants answers

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WAVY) - Two dogs are dead after someone poisoned them with a mixture of fish and antifreeze in their own backyard last week.

And, it's not the first time.

Owner John Bannow says all five of his dogs ingested the deadly mixture, but only two had to be euthanized because of their injuries. One was a female puppy, just six months old. The other was 4-year-old Blaze, the pack leader. Blaze is the father of the North Carolina State University mascot "Tuffy."

The dogs are a rare breed, known as Tamaskan. They look like wolves, but are friendly, social animals.

Bannow says he let them out to go to the bathroom and that's when they found the bowl full of poison.

"This person went through calculated efforts to dig a hole, place a bowl, so it's below ground level and cover it with grass clippings," said Bannow. "Not from my lawn, because they were long enough to cover the bowl and give that green appearance."

Bannow knew what to expect as soon as he saw the bowl in the yard. That's because the same bowl appeared there around this time last year. Luckily, all the dogs survived the original scare.

"I'm getting over the mourning and I'm getting to the beyond-angry stage," said Bannow, who thinks the poisoning is a personal attack. 

Bannow says he has received threatening voicemails and emails, but cannot say from who, because of the ongoing investigation. WAVY.com asked him why he thinks someone would want to poison the dogs.

"They're jealous," said Bannow. "They want to have the breed, possibly produce it in mass numbers, so they can make a profit."

For now, the dogs only play in the yard when Bannow or a family member is with them. He cannot bare to lose another.

"I expect him to come back, and I'm going to do everything I can to be ready for him," said Bannow. "Hopefully, the police will catch him before I do."

The Pasquotank County Sheriff says the crime rises to the level of animal abuse. The sheriff says he is counting on the public to help identify the suspect.

If you can help the Pasquotank County Sheriff, call the Crime Line at (252) 335-5555.

To visit a donation website created for the Bannow family, click here . 

To see the dogs' Facebook page, click here .

Stay with WAVY News 10 and WAVY.com for updates on this developing story.