In a shocking animal cruelty case, a zookeeper has been found guilty of killing an injured wallaby by drowning, and not by euthanasia as previously claimed. The story, reported by The Washington Post, details how the zookeeper quantified her actions.
A.R., a curator at the Reston Zoo, testified that animals in their care had been killed in ways that couldn't be considered acts of euthanasia. Among her allegations A.R. said that animals had been shot, slammed into walls or fed to pythons.
The case currently being heard in the Fairfax County Courtroom was specific to one instance: the curator had evidence that an injured wallaby had been drowned in a plastic bucket by Zoo Director M.M.
A.R. resigned her position after her discovery, and alerted police.
A.R. recalled telling M.M., "I think you and your father are sick and sadistic people, and I don't want to be part of this anymore. It's one thing to euthanize an animal, but it's another thing to drown it."
M.M.'s father, E.M., owns the Reston Zoo.
M.M., 26, was convicted for animal cruelty and will serve 30 days in jail. She was also found guilty of possessing animal anesthesia without the proper license.
Veterinary forensic specialists, and fingerprint analysis, were used in court to show how M.M. killed the wallaby and then attempted to cover it up.
E.M. owns other zoos, and, according to testimony, has been under scrutiny before for how he manages the animals in his charge.
Caleb Kershner, the attorney representing M.M., argued that his client had acted compassionately in using a lethal injection. Kershner said, "She was concerned about this animal, it was suffering."
A.R. explained during her testimony that the wallaby, named "Parmesan", had injured his left eye hopping in his pen this past January. His eye was bandaged and he was put into a plastic crate during the healing process. Even in the crate, Parmesan managed to bang its head again and the eye bled.
A.R. reported the new injury to M.M. who discussed it with her father. E.M. allegedly told M.M. to euthanize the animal. A.R., who believed the animal could be rehabilitated, was "dumbfounded" by the decision.
M.M. then instructed A.R. to leave to pick up animal food. When she returned from the errand she discovered the crate – open near a spigot and a bucket filled with water. Her suspicions grew, so she climbed into a the zoo dumpster, found a trash bag, ripped it open and found the dead wallaby "soaking wet."
In her anger she confronted M.M. and demanded why she had killed the animal. Allegedly M.M. said, "These animals are (E.M.'s) property, and we need to do what he wants with them."
J.M., a Fairfax county animal control officer, testified that M.M. told her that she had euthanized Parmesan humanely – injecting it in the neck with a drug.
J.M., along with an examiner, found no sign of a needle stick, or a euthanasia drug in the wallaby's system, during the necropsy. Instead they found blood in the animal's lung – a clear indicator of a drowning.
Officers found the animal anesthetic Ketamine in M.M.'s office, two versions of a euthanasia reports on her computer consistent with M.M. and A.R.s differing accounts, and M.M.'s fingerprints on the files. In a final blow, detectives found that a Google search had been made on M.M.'s computer – to learn if drowning an animal in the state of Virginia is considered animal cruelty.
Criminal charges, whether small or large, require that you contact a criminal defense attorney for the best defense.
