Durham residents say dog poisoning was intentional act

The owners of the pets believe it was no accident.

Both women told WRAL News that they found rat poison in their yards, and it was deliberately left on their property to kill or injure the animals. The women live within two houses of the other.

Jamie Sigmon says she didn't immediately know what caused her dog to get sick before the animal died.

She's now convinced it is linked to what she found in her grass.

"The poison starts in the back left corner of my fence," Sigmon said, pointing out the small, round green pellets that have been found in the grass of her southeast Durham County home.

"It's heartbreaking," she said. "She was just an innocent puppy."

Sigmon suspects someone threw the poison over the fence because they wanted to target her dog, who was named Kona.

"I have an 8-foot privacy pence," she said. "My gates lock from the inside, so yes, it's absolutely intentional."

Her older dog, named Piper, is fine now.

But Sigmon says her pet pooch suffered from internal bleeding.

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Records from Sigmon's veterinarian shows the suspected cause is rat poison.

Heather McKinney told WRAL News that she also found poison in her yard.

She said her dog is OK.

"It was pretty devastating to know that someone wanted to hurt myself and my animals, because my animals are like my children."

Both women say someone in the neighborhood had previously complained about the dogs' barking.

While neither woman could say the poison was related to the complaints, both said they are determined to find out.

"Whoever could do this is a monster," Sigmon said.