SUFFIELD, Conn. — A family in Suffield is shaken after their dog was nearly killed. Two hot dog buns covered in peanut butter and filled with rat poison pellets were found in their yard. The Pasquariello's say the incident happened on Monday morning when they took their 5-year-old Great Pyrenees, Evelyn, outside.
"We were just so scared. We didn't know who would do this to our dog, like who hates our dog that much that they'd want to kill it," said Jake Pasquariello.
He says his sister saw their dog come from their backyard with a hot dog bun in her mouth. She thought Evelyn had gotten into the garbage, but when the dog dropped the bun it was clear that wasn't the case.
"We really think that she was trying to tell us that there's something up with this, I don't think I should eat it because she brought it around to the side of the house and dropped it in front of my sister rather than just eating it," he said.
Fortunately, she was okay. Blood work from the vet came back with no bad news. However, the family now has more questions than answers.
"We don't know why someone would do this and who would do it, but we're all trying to figure that out," said Pasquariello. "It was definitely something that had to be planned out because it's a hot dog bun with peanut butter and rat poison, that's clearly trying to get a dog's attention and kill it," he said.
It's not the first time there's been an incident involving Evelyn. The family says back in May they received anonymous letters in their mailbox about her.
"Saying that dog is aggressive and that the people weren't going to stop walking past our house because of the dog but their kids
are afraid and that they were going to get animal control involved if they had to," said Pasquariello.
While it's not certain the two are connected, the family and police believe it's possible. Suffield's police chief says this case is unique, and he's never seen something like this in his career.
"If you had an issue with the dog the appropriate course of action would have been to contact our animal control officer to have it investigated and resolved. This wasn't something that you should take into your own hands let alone take into your hands in such a manner," said Chief Richard Brown.
The Pasquariello's are holding Evelyn and their two other dogs a little tighter, and hope whoever did this is found.
"She's just a really great dog, never shown any aggression, never tried to escape the fence at all. she barks a little bit, that's it," said Pasquariello. "It takes a really twisted person to do something like this and you just hope that they get as much help as they need," he said.
Suffield police are looking for surveillance video from people in the Plantation Drive neighborhood and they're asking anyone with information to give them a call
Anyone who may have witnessed or had information on the matter is asked to contact Suffield Police.