A Casanova man has been charged with "maliciously administering poison to dogs." According to Maj. Paul Mercer of the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office, deputies obtained a warrant charging Thomas Kemp North III, 26, with the offense following a lengthy investigation.
The investigation reportedly began Dec. 31, 2005. Deputy Becky Cooper, an animal control officer with the Sheriff's Office, went to the 4500 block of Weston Road on a report of several dogs that had died under suspicious circumstance, Mercer said. Tests conducted on the dogs' bodies at the Department of Agriculture laboratory yielded positive results for pesticide, he added. Deputies served North with the warrant, Mercer said.
North is now scheduled to appear in Fauquier County General District Court May 18, 2006.
Maliciously administering poison to dogs is a Class 1 misdemeanor offense. If convicted, North could be sentenced to up to 12 months in jail and/or a fine of not more than $2,500.
Jason Weden owned Belle, one of the dogs that North allegedly poisoned. "I hope that (North) gets everything that's coming to him and then some," Weden said. "It makes me very upset, very angry, that there are people like that in the world." Weden said Belle was a 3-1/2 year old AKC-registered chocolate Labrador retriever that he received as a gift from his mom and girlfriend.
"I'd had her since she was about six or seven weeks old. She was always by my side -- I took her to work and I took her on vacation. She came with me when I relocated to New Orleans and when I moved here," Weden said. "She was just as cute as could be. She didn't do anything to deserve this."
Anne Tinsdale's dogs, Sidney (a Jack Russell terrier) and Lady (a golden retriever), also died after they allegedly ingested some poison. "Those two dogs were just always there," Tinsdale said. "Even now, when I (come home) I expect to see them trotting down the driveway. I have not lived without dogs for years. I just don't know how to describe it. There is such a void."
Tinsdale said that two more dogs who belonged to another neighbor, Ike Miller, were also victims of the alleged poisoning. Their names were Emma and Domino, she said. Even though she didn't own them, she said she will miss them, too. Losing Emma, a kommandor-golden retriever cross, is especially hard, Tinsdale said. "Emma had such an endearing personality, and she was so elegant as she got older," Tinsdale said. I loved (her) as if she were mine."
Miller said he thinks that anyone who would deliberately poison the animals is "pure evil." He said he doesn't want revenge, but he does want justice. "I cannot tell you how proud I am of the investigators and animal control officers at the Sheriff's Office," Miller said. "They have worked so hard to get justice for three people who have lost their family companions. So far justice has been served beautifully."
Tinsdale said that she realized that Sidney was missing on Christmas Eve. "I thought he was with the dog next door or that he was in the woods hunting, but he didn't come back," Tinsdale said. Tinsdale's concern grew when the dog still hadn't returned a few days later. She said she talked to Weden, who informed her that his chocolate Labrador retriever had been very ill. 'The next day my golden retriever, Lady, started acting strangely," Tinsdale recalled. "She collapsed in the driveway. I thought she had a stroke." Tinsdale took the dog to the veterinarian the next day, where the animal died. When she spoke to Weden again she found out that his dog had also died that day. Weden confirmed this week that his dog, Belle, was sick and died under mysterious circumstances during the holidays. He said he became concerned and took her to the vet when she started vomiting. She was initially treated for Lyme disease, but did not respond to the medication. Weden took her back to the vet, where he said the doctor discovered that the dog was bleeding internally. She died after an operation conducted to try to stop the bleeding, Weden said.
By New Year's Eve day, Tinsdale, who had been looking for Sidney all week, still hadn't found him. But she said she spotted Miller's dog in his driveway and quickly realized that something was wrong. "I went over to her and she appeared to have blood on her face," Tinsdale recalled. "I saw that she was bleeding from her mouth and walking very slowly." Tinsdale said she called Miller, who came home and found that his dog was near death. "She was in obvious pain. There was nothing I could do, so I just stayed with her in the field," Miller said. "She died in my arms." Miller said he also found his other dog, Domino, dead underneath the porch at his house that day. "I started looking (for Sidney) in the woods closer to my house," Tinsdale said. "When I found him he was dead also." Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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