Poison suspected in Farmington pet deaths

Four dead pets in Farmington have led one owner to suspect they were poisoned.

Kristina Mikalson of Farmington has lost a 7-year-old Australian shepherd and an 8-year-old cat within the past 10 months. She alleged the dog, Angie, became violently sick the same day last spring as two other dogs that live across the street at separate homes. Those two dogs died the same day. Her dog remained in ill health and died eight months later.

Whitman County Reserve Deputy Scotty Anderson said he couldn’t determine if the animals had been poisoned.

“When I talked with the animal hospital myself they told me it could be poisoning but it could be a hundred other things too,” Anderson said.

Anderson said after a conversation with the Alpine Animal Hospital veterinarian who examined Mikalson’s pets, it was still unclear if her pets had been poisoned.

The cat, which died last week, had some symptoms of poisoning, but the vet couldn’t give a sure confirmation this was the case.

“We don’t have any scientific evidence that says it was poisoned,” Anderson said.

Mikalson said she and her daughter came home one day last spring to find their dog Angie very ill. That same day, two other neighbor dogs became ill and died soon after.

Mikalson said they rushed their dog to the emergency room where she was given several blood transfusions. The dog struggled to live for another eight months and then died.

The same fate met their cat, Mikalson alleged. They came home two weeks ago to find the cat unable to walk. Her daughter tried to help the animal walk, but when that failed, they took the cat to the veterinary emergency room.

“His little heart was racing,” Mikalson said.

The cat died the next day.

Farmington has a population of about 80 residents. Mikalson said she contacted the Gazette with her story because she wants other Farmington residents to be on the alert and know they are not alone if a pet does die.

“You just don’t do those things to helpless little things,” she said.