Virginia Animal Control Officer, Raymond Merkh, has been charged with two felony counts for the cruel deaths of two animals entrusted to his care. Merkh is accused of neglecting veterinary care for two animals, a kitten and a Jack Russell Terrier who suffered for extended periods, languishing in their filthy cages and eventually they had to be euthanized. Animal Control Officers are paid to help animals, not make them suffer in agony. We cannot allow this to happen again! Sign our alert now.

In a sickening tale of neglect, a kitten was impounded with serious wounds and injuries and left in a filthy cage for five days, where the poor kitten’s wounds became infected for lack of care.

Nottoway County Officer Merkh claimed he’d splinted the injured leg, then removed the splint, and that he’d held the orange-tabby kitten pending the results of the kitten’s feline leukemia test results. Merkh reportedly told the kitten’s rescuer not to post the kitten’s photo on social media. When that same rescuer found the kitten days later lying in his litter pan, with an odor emanating from the kitten’s leg, control of the situation was seized and the kitten was taken for veterinary intervention. The little kitten was diagnosed with a badly infected leg wound, a fractured pelvis, and nerve damage to his bladder and rectum. The kitten was mercifully euthanized.

Court documents reveal another case where a dog was left to rot. Merkh claimed he took the dog to a veterinarian who assessed the dog’s needed treatment at $2,000, so the dog was not treated. Two weeks into the dog’s suffering, a rescuer took the dog to an organization that was willing to see to the dog’s treatment and care. Sadly, this dog also ended up dead.

Merkh held the dog beyond the state-required 5-day holding period and failed to euthanize the suffering dog. He made yet another irresponsible move in this tale of neglect, by throwing away the dog’s records.

Merkh is now on paid leave, and a neighboring county has stepped up to care for animals at the Nottoway County shelter until the Nottoway shelter is staffed.

This case has painfully and shockingly revealed that Animal Control Officer Merkh received no training for his position. Animals sheltered in facilities with no oversight and lacking protocols or training are clearly a source of great suffering for thousands of animals. We must act now to ensure this incident in Virginia is a precedent-setting case, and a turning point for officials closing their eyes to the needs of the innocent animals incarcerated in hellish and inhumane conditions.

Merkh’s hearing date is set for November 5, 2016. Please join us in encouraging District Attorney Terry Royal to handle this case with utmost seriousness and demand that Merkh be handed down the stiffest penalty the law allows.

Take action here!