BLACKSTONE, Va. -- Blackstone Police have charged 40-year-old William Homer Martin with three counts of felony animal cruelty in the poisoning deaths of a Blackstone family’s three dogs last month.
The dog’s owner Maggie Scarano always maintained that Martin, her neighbor, poisoned her beloved family pets. Necropsy reports found her family’s dogs, Spoot, Moo Moo and Dude -- died from antifreeze poisoning.
Maggie Scarano
Scarano said the charges are bittersweet because this was such an unnecessary situation.
“We’re happy to see something happened…. It’s caused so much heartache not only in our family, but also the kids and families next door,” she said.
Scarano said if Martin had any issues with her dogs, he never approached her about it.
"If my dogs are disturbing you in some way I am happy to rectify that situation," she said. "Something as simple as a text message or a phone call could have changed the entire situation here."
Spoot, Moomoo and Dude, Left to Right.
Maggie Scarano said she woke up one morning last month, to the sound of her dogs vomiting and stumbling around.
She later noticed a lid in her yard with dog food residue on it. Which investigators later determined held food laced with anti-freeze.
“I just hope that no other family has to go through what our family has had to go through,” Scarano said. “We’ve lost three members of our family.”
When asked what she wants to happen to Martin, her message was simple.
“I don’t want these people to ever be able to do this to anybody else’s animals,” she said. “It has to stop. They had to know this kind of behavior is just wrong. It’s disgusting.”
Veterinarian Dr. Brandy Ashman, who attended to the dogs up to their deaths, said she immediately had suspicions.
“It was obvious to us these dogs were fed this poison with dog food, which most like hid the bitter taste of the antifreeze,” Dr. Ashman said. “It’s really sad and painful to me someone would do something to these innocent dogs.”
Neighbors who live along 2nd Street in Blackstone said the news is upsetting.
“We have three small dogs. My heart goes out to the family who lost their loved ones,” Jennifer Fraser said.
Martin was released on bond and is scheduled to appear in court on March 23.
CBS 6 spoke to a woman who answered the door at Martin's home Friday. She told us she kicked him out and he doesn't live there anymore.
