From Elizabeth City, NC
$7,500 in veterinary bills later, four members of the University mascot’s canine family are healthy and back at home with their owners in Elizabeth City, NC.
John and Christina Bannow, who were forced to take their four Tamaskan breed dogs to the vet after the dogs were maliciously poisoned with antifreeze-laced fish, now face a battle in the attempt to pay their large vet bill.
They have set up a donation site [link: http://emergencytreatmentforbannowdogs.chipin.com/bannow-dogs] in hopes that sympathizers will step up to the plate. Donations will be accepted through the site through May 28.
“If people can pitch in, and help out, that would be great,” said Mr. Bannow. “N.C. State is probably a big fan of Tuffy, and these are close family members of Tuffy.”
The local veterinarian did not have the materials needed to take care of the dogs. Mr. Bannow had to transport the dogs to Greenbrier, Virginia on his own dime where more medication and treatment options were available.
The perpetrator has not been caught, according to the Bannows. Sherriff Randy Cartwright of Pasquotank County said an investigation is underway.
“If caught, the perpetrator will face felony charges,” Cartwright said.
Mrs. Bannow expanded on Cartwright’s explanation of possible charges.
“We found out from the police that this would be a Class H felony if this person is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that would be times four animals. This person is looking at jail time plus fines,” Mrs. Bannow said.
The sheriff’s office has a person of interest in mind, according to Cartwright.
NC State names the mascot Tuffy no matter who owns him or her. Right Puppy Kennel, a Salisbury dog breeding operation headed by its founder Kevin Settineri, provided a dog as the University mascot for one game, the Sept. 4 game against Western, according to a 2010 article written by Tyler Everett of the Technician.
Although the University did not confirm it, the partnership between the University and Right Puppy was terminated because of allegations that the kennel was a “puppy mill,” according to the 2010 article. John Bannow emailed Athletics Director Debbie Yow in 2010 informing the University of Right Puppy’s breeding practices, also according to Everett’s article.
A rivalry exists between the Bannows and Sattineri, although neither party would admit to the fact.
Another Facebook page [link: http://www.facebook.com/tuffytamaskan#!/tuffytamaskan] has been created that uses the current mascot’s photos. The phone number on the page directs the caller to Sattineri directly. There is a link on the page to Right Puppy.
Right Puppy has broken no laws by posting photos of the current mascot on the “Tuffy Tamaskan” site, according to Sattineri. He said the University “got mad” about copyright laws, but that graphic artists have been banned from “airbrushing out the N.C. State logo from every single picture.”
The site receives 15 friend requests per day and has more than 20,000 “friends,” according to Sattineri. While the official mascot’s page does not accept friend requests, 243 “people like this” as of this story’s publication.
Sattineri skirted questions regarding the fairness of the “Tuffy Tamaskan” page’s title, which were asked because the dog from his kennel represented the University for one game.
Sattineri said the purpose of the Right Puppy site is to promote the Tamaskan breed.
“There is not a negative thing on our page about anything or anybody; it’s just promoting Tamaskan puppies,” Sattineri said.
Although the creator of the page uses photos of the current mascot, an official page for the current Tuffy is online [link: https://www.facebook.com/PackTuffy].
“[The page creator’s] hopes are to no doubt doupe/ fool the public…and in doing so directs traffic to his page Right Puppy Kennel. This linked pic was 2 days ago and available to those he ‘friends’ and seems like a lot of people are fooled,” Mrs. Bannow said in an email.
Besides the Bannows’ communication with Debbie Yow, they have called federal authorities, including the Environmental Protection Agency, claiming the Right Puppy kennel broke environmental and animal treatment laws.
“My competition bashes me relentlessly,” Sattineri said. “Just to give you an example, [the Bannows] sent to my place the EPA, the Center for Disease Control, and the Humane Society countless times.”
Sattineri recounted one incident in particular.
“The EPA came [to the kennel] and tested our water because John and Christine Bannow said that we were dumping raw sewage into the local streams,” Sattineri said. “The EPA came out with here with gas masks on. When I showed the plumbing, and the septic system and piping, they were very agitated that they wasted several hundred man hours based on a complaint.”
A Facebook site was placed online that provided the Bannow family’s home phone number, as well as home address. The family received menacing phone calls as a result of the Facebook page, according to Mr. Bannow.
The owner of the Facebook page could not be readily determined.
Antifreeze poisoning of dogs is not a new occurrence. As reported by the CBS news affiliate in Salisbury, NC, WBTV in October, 2010, dogs in Rowan County were reported to have been killed by antifreeze poisoning.
The article pointed to the fact that not all antifreeze-poisoning cases are intentional.
“In many cases the poisoning was found to be intentional, in others it was considered an accident where antifreeze had been left where the animals could get to it,” according to David Whisenant, the author of the article.
