Pincher Creek couple say neighbours contaminated rainwater barrel, injuring toddler, dog, and killing garden
Naveen Day
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- 3 minutes read
Neighbours don’t always get along, and feuds can some times get out of hand. That is what happened for a couple in Pincher Creek. Dylan Fouillard says his neighbour poured chemicals into his rain collection barrel that injured a toddler, destroyed his garden, and caused his dog to get seriously ill. He says that he was warned by other neighbours of a couple that lived nearby. He says he often received complaints from the couple over petty issues. “We’re coming home too late. The Christmas lights are too bright. The wind blowing water in their yard (from lawn sprinklers) and they don’t like that…”
Fouillard says things escalated to the point where he installed security cameras on the exterior of his property after becoming suspicious that his neighbours may be causing mischief. On June 3, after returning home from a bicycle ride, the recorded footage showed him something alarming. “I saw that she was tampering with the rain barrel. I rushed home immediately and I looked at the rain barrel. It was frothing and foaming and it had a real funny scent to it.”
Fouillard contacted the RCMP to report the incident. Samples of the water were provided to the Pincher Creek Hospital and the RCMP to determine what was placed in the water. The samples were rejected by the labs for various reasons. Fouillard and his girlfriend are waiting on results from tests currently being done at the province’s Environment and Parks department. This is weeks after a toddler who used the water for swimming developed rashes, and their dog became very ill. Blood work suggests the dog’s immune system is attacking her pancreas from ingestion of toxic chemicals. Their entire garden, flowerbeds and two trees also died. According to Fouillard, the neighbours admitted to police to pouring the herbicide Roundup into the rain collection barrel, but only after hearing about the existence of surveillance footage of the woman. They were charged with mischief. In a Facebook post, Fouillard says he is disappointed that the couple was not charged more severely. He adds that he does not feel safe on his own property.
Bridge City News reached out to the couple who were allegedly charged in the incident. A woman at the residence declined to comment, and said that Fouillard has no business talking to the media.
