A Virginia man has been charged after he was reportedly seen on home security footage tossing poisoned chunks of meat to his neighbor's dogs over their loud barking.
Heather Dinsmore told Fox DC that her three rescue dogs, Frankie, Igor and Chester, were the intended targets.
Neighbor Caught Throwing Chunks of Poisoned Meat Over the Fence
Dinsmore said she was away from her Alexandria home visiting family in New Jersey earlier this month when she checked her security camera and saw her next-door neighbor in her driveway, throwing what appeared to be chunks of meat out of a plastic bag in his hand into her yard. The meat was stuffed with rat poison, the outlet said.
Watch the video below:
"We were shocked," Dinsmore told Fox DC. "My dogs bark, they are dogs. But we don't leave them outside. We don't leave them unattended. Half the time we're not home because we're up in New Jersey."
Neighbor Charged with Misdemeanor, Leaves Apology Note
Fortunately, none of the dogs ingested any of the meat. Officers with the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria (AWLA) responded to the home on Feb. 6 around 5 p.m. AWLA said they recovered a substance from the meat "that is suspected of containing some form of toxin." Laboratory tests are still pending.
The neighbor, identified as John Romano, turned himself in to the authorities on Monday. He was charged with attempting to maim or kill fowl or animals – a class 1 misdemeanor, according to AWLA. Romano is scheduled to be arraigned in Alexandria District Court on Monday.
Romano also reportedly left a note of apology in their mailbox, saying he had been "bothered by loud barking for a long time," but saying it was "no excuse" for "tossing tainted meat" into their yard.
"We do not accept his apology if you call that letter an apology. And I think reading that letter, he's just sorry he got caught and not sorry for what he tried to do," said Dinsmore.
