Dogs and puppies seized from truck, home - Portsmouth, VA

Tuesday, Dec 19, 2006

County: Portsmouth City

Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Merlin Theodore Lewis

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

"They had no basic care," says animal control officer Michelle Leonard. Leonard holds a two-year-old beagle with sores on its ears and its nails way too long.

Portsmouth Animal Control officers removed the dog, along with three other adults and a puppy, from a home in the 1600 block of Richmond Ave on Dec 19 afternoon.

Another puppy was found dead in a crate. They found the animals after chasing down a stray dog.

Officers were horrified to find the flea-infested 8-week-old puppy living inside the cab of a red truck . "There's a lot of feces in the cab of the truck - a lot of dog urine - very unsanitary conditions," said Leonard.

Crates in the backyard of the home, held some of the dogs and officers say none of the animals had food or water.

A beagle living inside a narrow shed poked its nose out for attention. Leonard says: "the shed was full of some automobile seats, lawn maintenance equipment, has no floor space, no room for dog to be in there. It was living on top of things"

The owner of the dogs, 41-year-old Merlin Lewis, was not at home to answer our questions.

Now in the care of the humane society, the dogs are on the mend. The puppy, whose fur is falling out has been treated for fleas and one day will regrow its coat. For Leonard, that's a step in the right direction. "These are fixable, we find cruelty cases that aren't fixable everyday."

Lewis has been charged with three counts of animal cruelty and two counts of inadequate care. A judge will decide January 9, if he gets the dogs back.

Case Updates

Merlin Theodore Lewis was convicted of misdemeanor animal cruelty on February 28, 2007. He was given diversion and a $67.00 fine. If he complies with the conditions of his diversion, he may be eligible to have his case dismissed next year. A review date has been scheduled for January 2, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. Information is not immediately available as to whether Lewis has been prohibited from owning animals.

Source: Case # GC06007607-00 Update posted on Mar 9, 2007 - 11:33PM

References

• WAVY - Dec 21, 2006

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