By Bert Case - bio | email
RANKIN COUNTY, MS (WLBT) -A number of Rankin county pet owners living near the reservoir said their beloved pooches met untimely deaths.
They believe their dogs were poisoned.
A vietnam veteran has built a mock cemetery in his front yard located on Three Prong Road just north of Fannin Landing Circle.
68-year-old Jim Pippen erected the poisoned dog cemetery after he lost his 2-year old black labrador retriever, Slippins, to poisoning.
He is sure, he took some of the dog's remains to a lab for chemical analysis. He then learned that at least eight other dogs had met the same fate in the neighborhood.
They think they know the woman who did it. When the sheriff's office couldn't get enough proof to arrest the suspect, the former U.S. Marine officer decided to engage in some psychological warfare of his own.
Pippen said, "I didn't know how else to approach it. I thought that maybe I'll put a mock cemetery out there and see how it works hoping it would squelch the problem in the neighborhood."
The poisoned dog cemetery story was broken by Jim McDowell in his reservoir internet blog, the "reznews.com."
As McDowell explains, "the sign caught my eye and having been a pet owner a poisoned dog cemetery, had to be a good story there."
There have been no dogs lost to poisonings in two years, which has made the neighbors breathe a sigh of relief.
But the thing that really convinces them is that the suspect is now going to church.
©2010 WLBT. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
WLBT 3 - Fox 40
