BOSTON (CBS) – Residents in South Boston say someone is trying to poison their dogs.

“Whoever is doing it is very sick,” said one Southie resident, referring to whoever is trying to poison dogs in the neighborhood.

In the past few weeks, several dogs have been sickened and two have died, after residents say they ingested cheese or peanut butter laced with rat poison.

Vincent Baldner’s dog, Bella, died. “It’s a very painful death, they don’t die right away,” he said. “It’s hard to believe my dog is gone. Everyone loved her, and she never left the yard.”

Baldner says someone threw the poison into his yard on N street.

Nearby, at the upscale kennel called “Fenway Bark”, the owner is warning her clients. “I’m very worried about this,” said Jane Fulton, “and I’m telling them if they let their dogs run in parks or public places, they should obey commands not to eat anything they find.”

In September, a landscaper was charged with poisoning dogs in Charlestown.