WAKE COUNTY, NC (WRAL) - Two dog died after eating poisoned mushrooms in their owner's yard.
"Both were wonderful, just wonderful dogs," said Nicole Kincaid, a friend of Janna Joyner, the dogs' owner.
Joyner said she came home Sunday to find Adonis and Draco dead. Joyner's four other dogs were acting strange, some stumbling around, vomiting.
"I can't even imagine," Kincaid said.
Draco, a St. Bernard, was about to turn 3 next week. Adonis was an 8-year-old lab retriever mix.
"Adonis was her first baby. She adopted him from a county animal shelter," Joyner said. "Draco was a foster of hers. We call a 'foster fail' where they don't actually adopt the dog out and keep it for themselves."
They were two pups in a family of six, all Janna Joyner's babies.
"Her pack was incredibly tight, and she loves them all," Kincaid said.
Besides being one of Joyner's best friends, Kincaid and Joyner also work together for a nonprofit that fosters dogs.
"She's a wonderful person and a wonderful dog owner," Kincaid said.
Blood exams at the vet showed traces of the toxin found in poisonous mushrooms.
David Dorman, a toxicology professor at NC State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, said some types of mushrooms, like death cap or death angel, can cause liver failure, and there's no antidote.
"So a dog that consumes those mushrooms can go from health to very clinically sick to dead within 24 to 48 hours. It's a very rapid disease syndrome," he said.
Toxic mushrooms can vary in size and color. Dorman said there's no way to know which is safe.
If you have mushrooms in your yard, he recommended you get rid of all of them.
"It's always best to just cut them, bag them and throw them away. And after you've handled the mushrooms, wash your hands yourself so you don't get exposed," Dorman said.
Kincaid and Joyner said they hope people will listen.
"It's just scary to know how close it was to home and how it could happen to any dog," Kincaid said.
Copyright 2018 WRAL via CNN. All rights reserved.
