Local vet Merck assisting in Vick investigation
By D. ORLANDO LEDBETTER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/11/07
Local veterinarian Dr. Melinda Merck, one of the nation's top forensic vets, is assisting the prosecution in the investigation of dogfighting at property owned by Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in Surry County, Virginia, she confirmed Monday.
Merck said she was working with the Surry County sheriff's office and Commonwealth attorney Gerald Poindexter. Merck, of Canton, had no knowledge of what was removed from Vick's property last Thursday, when the office of inspector general, U.S. Department of Agriculture executed a warrant — the third at the property.
"I wasn't involved in that aspect," Merck said. "I have no direct knowledge of what they found and no one has called (Monday) to give me an update."
Merck said she couldn't comment on the specifics of her role in the investigation.
Brown has said that he planned to set up a meeting this week to review the evidence in the case.
Federal officials have declined comment about what they were searching for or what was found on the property during the search.
Merck, who founded the Cat Clinic of Roswell in 1990, is considered one of the top animal crime scene investigators in the nation, according the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
In December, Merck was the forensic vet that testified in the Fulton County case where two brothers were charged with torturing a puppy and then putting it in a heated oven to die. The case ended in a hung jury and the brothers then pleaded guilty and were given the maximum sentence of five years on the felony animal abuse charges.
In April, she was a part of a team that seized 45 dogs, including 44 pit bulls, in Pass Christian, Miss. and St. Bernard Parish, La. in a dogfighting investigation.
Merck and Randall Lockwood co-authored an award-winning book, Forensic Investigation of Animal Cruelty: A Guide for Veterinarians and Law Enforcement Professionals.
Police executed a search warrant at Vick's property in April in a drug investigation involving his cousin. The next day, a second warrant was executed to investigate dog fighting and animal cruelty. Nearly 70 dogs, mostly pit bulls, and other evidence investigators believed associated with dog fighting was seized. Last week, acting on information from an informant, federal authorities executed a third warrant at the property.
The previous week, local investigators failed to execute a warrant requested by a federal investigator to look on the property for buried dog carcasses and tools.
