The primary goal of the MSPCA’s Law Enforcement Department is to seek the best possible outcome for the animals it encounters while investigating allegations of animal cruelty. This work is made possible by donors. In most cases, this can be accomplished through education and assistance with care. However, animals may be seized in the most deliberate or egregious cases, and criminal charges are filed. Months of investigation and paperwork go into filing charges, and court dates can persist for years. It is difficult for the entire organization when an animal is left in a legal limbo pending adjudication, and heartbreaking when a case is lost. However, in some cases, like Merlin’s, there are great rewards.
In November of 2021, the MSPCA Law Enforcement team received an email from Tisbury Animal Control about an approximately 33-year-old pinto horse named Merlin at a co-op farm on Martha’s Vineyard. The photographs from animal control showed Merlin to be very thin, with overgrown hooves. The other co-op members cared for Merlin when they could, but it was not enough to compensate for his owner’s failure to provide basic care. A vet visiting the barn for another horse examined Merlin while there and noted that in his condition, Merlin would struggle to make it through the winter months. Officers Melanie Journet and Chelsea Weiand strove to contact Merlin’s owner, who would not return phone calls and was never at the barn when the animal control officer stopped by on their behalf.
On December 1, 2021, MSPCA officers and Nevins Farm staff traveled to Martha’s Vineyard and met animal control at the barn. In addition to the initial concerns about his weight and feet, there was both old and fresh fecal material built up on Merlin’s blanket leg straps due to chronic untreated diarrhea, and his rectum had retracted due to fat loss. The only food present was purchased at a local grain store by animal control, with money gifted by the MSPCA Equine Assistance Program.
Merlin’s owner continued to refuse to cooperate, and on December 3, 2021, Officer Journet applied for and was granted a search warrant to seize him. Law Enforcement and Nevins Farm staff returned to the island to collect Merlin and transport him to safety and care at Nevins Farm in Methuen. The next day, Merlin was examined by a veterinarian who stated that Merlin appeared to be “severely neglected and malnourished.” Merlin’s hooves needed to be trimmed, he had a filthy penile area, internal parasites, and his teeth were in poor condition, making it very difficult to eat — ailments all preventable with the routine care his owner failed to provide.
With continuous care and a rigorous re-feeding plan, Merlin’s overall condition and quality of life improved immensely. But, even though he was under the care of the MSPCA-Angell, Merlin did not legally belong to the MSPCA-Angell, so adoption center staff could not yet find him a loving home.
On January 2, 2022, Officer Journet filed two counts of felony animal cruelty charges in court, and MSPCA Animal Protection Division Attorney Lynsey Legier began the process of filing for a bond, which, if granted by the court, would compel Merlin’s owner to pay the costs of his care while in MSPCA custody or surrender ownership to the MSPCA. The bond was granted, Merlin’s owner failed to meet the payment deadline, and the court officially granted the MSPCA ownership of Merlin in November of 2022. Now the search for a caring home could begin!
One of the many people who responded to Merlin’s need for a home was a previous owner living in another state who never stopped loving Merlin and was horrified to learn what had happened to him. Once the Nevins Farm Animal Care and Adoption Center staff were convinced of this person’s dedication to continuing Merlin’s rehabilitation and commitment to personally caring for him for the rest of his life, Merlin was reunited with them and made the long trip home to the Midwest.
On June 5, 2023, Merlin’s owner on Martha's Vineyard pleaded guilty. She received 80 days in the house of correction and was ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution.
