Dog poisoner on the loose in 1997

Reports suggested at least two dozen animals were killed in less than a fortnight.

Five watched their pets die in the Princeton Avenue area alone but the activities of the poisoner wasn’t confined to one end of the town.

As least seven owners lost animals in Grattan Street, Albert Street and Allenhill Park.

It was confirmed that dogs were being killed using slug pellets pushed into meat, generally mince.

Lurgan Park appeared to be a favoured ‘killing spot’ but the perpetrator was believed to be carrying the poisoned meat around the town.

Parts of Lurgan had suffered from outbreaks of dog poisoning in the past, the most serious being in 1989 when up to 100 animals died.

No one was ever made amenable and it was feared that the same disturbed person was at their work again.