"The first one to go was Cookie," said resident Enrique Dominguez. He says one of his Chihuahua died before they could even get her to the hospital. When he got home, the other one was having seizures and later died at the emergency clinic.
"We lost both Tammy and Cookie and our families [are] devastated," said Dominguez. "Why would some sick person do something like that?"
The Diotte home appeared to be the next target. Daisy, Cinnamon and Happy all died. A cat ran off to hide and hasn't been seen since.
"I'm sorry the way these guys died because it was violent and nothing should have to suffer the way these guys suffered," said victim Jan Diotte.
A dog at another neighbor's house also died. That family has small children and decided to pack up and leave the area.
All the pet owners say they found food in their backyards that they don't normally feed their pets.
"We found food," said Dominguez. "We found a mix of weenie and hamburger meat and it must have been laced with something."
Those who lost their pets say all of their backyards back up to one man's home.
"All the signs are leading to one person and it's all around one house," said victim Marion Diotte. "All the animals around one certain house [are] gone."
Their concerns led an animal control investigator to Dave Akeson's home. He took away a few small bowls that were in the yard along with an unlabeled can. Akeson says he was out of town working Monday and doesn't know why his neighbors would blame him.
"I don't know where the cans came from," said Akeson. "I don't know where the accusations came from."
Animal control says there have been no prior complaints in this area. They have made no arrests, and Akeson says he had nothing to do with it.
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