Edwardsville residents Shane Moore and Tracy Ross allege a neighbor fed their two pit bulls raw meatballs covered in a "blue crystalline" foreign substance in an attempt to harm or kill them.
They sued Curtis A. Smith in Madison County Circuit Court on April 24, further alleging that years earlier two other dogs they owned suffered symptoms of poisoning and weight loss due to vomiting after drinking water, with one of them ultimately dying from complications in 2013. They also allege that between 2015 and 2018 another neighbor's dog in the Holiday Shores subdivision was poisoned.
At the time of the lawsuit-related incident, on April 27, 2018, Moore claims he witnessed Smith, "wearing blue rubber gloves, trespass over the fence separating Plaintiffs' property from Defendant's, and deposit items...believed to be meat in the direction of Plaintiffs' dogs," Fennie and Poko.
"Plaintiff Shane Moore, upon inspection, found approximately eight (8) raw hamburger meatballs covered in a blue crystalline substance on the ground where Defendant tossed them," the suit says.
Plaintiffs say they incurred $1,454.60 in veterinary charges for induced vomiting and monitoring.
The complaint states that Smith was charged with the attempt of aggravated cruelty to animals. In their civil lawsuit against Smith, the plaintiffs say he violated the Illinois Humane Care of Animals Act, trespassed on their property and chattel, and intentionally inflicted emotional distress.
"Defendant owed Plaintiffs a duty of care to not poison Plaintiffs' dogs," the suit says.
"Defendant's conduct was extreme and outrageous."
Plaintiffs seek in excess of $50,000 in damages.
They are represented by Paul Marks of Sivia Law in Edwardsville.