Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Dog killed with axe

Dog killed with axe
Redwood City, CA (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Mar 29, 2005
County: San Mateo
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted

Abuser/Suspect: Mark Muerjal

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Case ID: 4508

Classification: Mutilation/Torture

Animal: dog (non pit-bull)

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Abuse was retaliation against animal's bad behavior

A Redwood City man is charged with felony animal cruelty for allegedly killing his pet mastiff Titan with an ax after the dog bit his girlfriend in the head during a heated argument.

Mark Muerjal, 41, is charged with one count of felony cruelty to an animal and one count of felony cruelty to another person�s animal. There is some confusion on who exactly owns the dog, leading to the seemingly conflicting charges. He will likely face one or the other.

He appears in court on May 4 for a superior court review conference and faces up to three years in prison if ultimately convicted.

On March 29, Muerjal and his girlfriend were in the midst of a heated argument at their East Bayshore Boulevard trailer when the dog bit the woman�s head, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

�The woman began bleeding and the man announced, �Enough is enough,�� Wagstaffe said. He reportedly said he was tired of the dog�s antics, fetched an ax and killed the dog with repeated blows.

Muerjal is free from custody on a $20,000 bail bond.

Case Updates

A 41-year-old man was sentenced to seven months in San Mateo County jail Friday for killing his friend's dog with an ax while he was pet sitting. Mark Merjil will begin serving his sentence Feb. 4, Deputy District Attorney Morris Maya said.

The dog, a brindle mastiff named Titan, was hacked and bludgeoned to death March 29, 2004, when Merjil and his girlfriend were pet sitting at a mobile home at 3015 East Bayshore Blvd. in Redwood City.

The couple got into an argument, during which the dog bit the top of the woman's head, Maya said. The injury was not serious, he said.

Merjil and his girlfriend locked the dog inside the trailer while they went outside, but Merjil became "extremely angry" and re-entered the home, Maya said. There, he began beating the dog with his fists and a metal mop handle.

He picked up an ax and struck the dog's neck with the blade, then beat the dog with the blunt end.

The next day, someone in the trailer park called police about the commotion. Officers found the dead dog in a garbage bag.

Merjil pleaded no contest to a felony count of animal cruelty Nov. 14 and has been free since then after posting $20,000 bail.

Merjil was the second Redwood City man this week to be locked up on animal cruelty charges.

Joshua Emert, 31, was sentenced Tuesday to four years, four months in state prison after strangling and beating to death his grandmother's dog June 9.

Emert used baling wire to strangle the dog, a terrier named Benji, and stuck it in a bag, Maya said. The dog was still alive, however, so Emert bashed in its head with a mallet.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle - Jan 21, 2006
Update posted on Jan 23, 2006 - 10:56PM

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man has pleaded no contest to hacking his pet mastiff to death with an ax. Mark Merjil, 41, entered the plea to one count of felony animal cruelty yesterday in San Mateo County Superior Court. Under the plea deal, prosecutors promised he would face no more than a year in jail. He faced up to three years for the attack if convicted by a jury.

Authorities said Merjil and his girlfriend were arguing in their trailer on March 29 when the dog, named Titan, bit the woman's head. Merjil was accused of killing the dog with repeated ax blows.

Merjil is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 20.

Source: NBC San Diego - Nov 15, 2005
Update posted on Nov 15, 2005 - 9:03PM

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References

	- May 4, 2005
	Redwood City Court Case #304334

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Dog killed with axeRedwood City, CA (US)

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Dog killed with axe
Redwood City, CA (US)