BLACKSTONE, Va. -- The family of three dogs intentionally poisoned is opening an animal rescue in their memory.

Maggie Scarano is in the process of opening Patty Swamp Rescue in memory of Spot, Puppy Moo Moo and Dude. The dogs had to be euthanized in February 2016 after her former neighbor fed them antifreeze laced dog food.

William Homer Martin was convicted of three counts of felony animal cruelty and given community service.

“We don’t feel that there was a great amount of justice through the whole court thing,” said Scarano. “We’ve really been looking for a way to grow and move on a little bit and I think building something positive in their memory is what we all have agreed on and the dog rescue just seems like such a great fit for the property,”

Scarano said her daughter Maci has been traumatized by the loss of her best friends.

“Maci is 5 now and she still talks about it,” said Scarano. “We were talking about how we could honor our dogs and she said well you know we could save other dogs and I thought that was just perfect it was a great idea and it really all just clicked in at that point.”

Scarano is renovating her 15 acre King and Queen county property to house cats and dogs.

“We’d like to have anywhere from 12 to 15 dogs on the property at a time bring them in from bad situations work with them get to know them and help them find a perfect home,” said Scarano. “Getting the non profit registration done is our critical thing now and we’re raising money in hopes of getting through that hurdle.”

Scarano says they are close to raising the funds https://www.gofundme.com/startup-for-dog-rescue to do that and have received support from across the country.

“We are waiting on a donation right now coming from New Jersey too we are crossing state lines,” said Scarano. “Any kind of dog food, cat litter, construction supplies and need of cash donations to get our fees taken care of,” she said.

For information on how to donate pet supplies email maggie.scarano@gmail.com. Donations can also be made to King William Veterinary Clinic, 1242 Sharon Road, King William, VA 23086, 804-769-3200.

Scarano hopes to have the rescue open by the end of January.

“We’re able to take something that just was so awful and turn it into something that’s saving lives,” said Scarano. “We can do something special here and we’re really excited about it.”​