Vermont: Details emerge of Eden dog horrors committed by Carol Merchant and Russell Goodell

VERMONT -- When Eden resident Carol Merchant pleaded not guilty last week to eight felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty, those were just the most egregious infractions.

According to documents now available at Lamoille County Superior Court, police and Humane Society workers found a total of 305 violations of Vermont’s animal cruelty laws in a home where Merchant, who called herself a dog rescuer, kept nearly a hundred animals in horrifying conditions.

Merchant was charged with eight felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals. The charges state she “intentionally, maliciously and without just cause” tortured eight dogs. The dogs are even named in the charges: Gretchen, Cooper, Destiny, Jack, Jaxon, Mia, Brutus and Murphy.

Each charge carries a maximum jail sentence of three years.

 

Merchant’s roommate was also charged with lesser crimes. Russell Goodell, 50, pleaded not guilty last week to six misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals, in depriving animals, specifically a pair of dogs named Reba and Peanut, of adequate food, water and medical attention.

Although plenty of people shared stories of the Feb. 25 raid on her house — where police found nearly 100 animals locked in tight quarters inches deep in their own excrement — details were not made public until the release of the arraignment documents associated with the criminal case.

Deborah Loring, a member of the Humane Society’s National Disaster Animal Response Team, led the animal seizure at Merchant’s home. Her report documents the grim details.

Ninety-four animals were identified during the Feb. 25 search and animal extrication — 86 dogs, seven cats and a duck. They were caged in rooms all over the house and on the back porch.

The report breaks down the 305 violations:

• 31 dogs were dehydrated.
• 48 dogs and one cat were “too thin,” and 11 of the dogs were classified as emaciated, receiving the lowest score, 1 out of 9, on the Purina Condition System.
• 68 dogs and three cats had dozens of untreated veterinary issues.
• 73 dogs and four cats didn’t have the minimum required living space. Loring reported that “it did not appear that any of the crated dogs or cats was allowed out of their crates for the required one hour per day, if ever.”
• Sanitation was “particularly egregious” inside the house and the fumes were overpowering. Animals were living in inches of feces and urine, and they were covered in it.

Reporting the incident
Police responded to Merchant’s home — a house on Route 100 long known in Eden as the “Pink Palace”— on Jan. 23, after receiving a tip from Eden’s health officer, Amanda Jones.

During that first visit, police noticed “the odor of urine was extremely strong and permeating throughout the home,” according to the affidavit filed with the court. Merchant told police she was taking the dogs out for walks every hour, and the only reason so many dogs were there was that it was cold outside.

A teenager, Jacob Baker, who was friends with Merchant’s grandson, provided officials with photographs he had snapped surreptitiously with his cellphone. He sent the images to the North Country Animal League, which forwarded them to the Vermont State Police.

  

“Merchant stated that the high number of dogs was temporary and that she would be getting the number back down to a manageable level,” the affidavit states.

Although Jones reported the foul goings-on at Merchant’s home, the town’s animal control officer, Bert Manning, remained quiet. Not only hadn’t Manning reported the conditions at the home during more than a decade as the animal control officer, but he said he belonged to what Merchant called her animal rescue organization.

In an interview March 2, Manning said he had checked on the house many times, and never reported anything amiss. He said he registered 21 of Merchant’s dogs last year. Indeed, according to Loring, Merchant registered those dogs in March 2014, the same day she got a dog dealer’s license.

“I’ve heard that, and it’s all untrue,” Manning said of the allegations of animal cruelty. “She had them all in kennels, cleaned them twice a day, walked them twice a day, sometimes three times a day.”

The interview with Manning took place the day before Town Meeting Day, when Eden voters elected a different animal control officer.

The worst cases
The police affidavit lists 10 dogs that were in particularly bad shape. Here are some of the dozens of health conditions described in the affidavit, all of which include filth and feces:

• Destiny, a 7-year-old boxer mix, was emaciated, covered with open wounds, and was vomiting feces. Her digestive system was “overwhelmed” by parasites.
• Jack, a German shorthair mix of unknown age, had a scar on his side, a badly overgrown nail and his muscles were wasting away.
• Jaxon, a 3-year-old pit bull mix, had similar conditions, and lots of tartar on his teeth.
• Mia, a 5-year-old boxer mix, had a bloody tail, ulcers on her hip bones, and swollen pads on her feet.
• Brutus, a 2-year-old pit bull mix, was badly dehydrated, and had mange and pressure sores on his hocks.
• Murphy, a 2-year-old pit bull mix, had a weepy eye, mange, dermatitis and a lesion on the tip of his tail.
• Angie, a 5-year-old terrier mix, had overgrown nails, was extremely dirty and was covered with feces and soaked with urine.
•  Buddy, a Pekingese between 5 and 7 years old, was difficult to examine because of the amount of “matting” of excrement and dirt, but had a raft of problems with his eyes, and toenails that were so badly ingrown only two of them could initially be removed.
• Roscoe, a dachshund mix of unknown age, had weepy eyes and tapeworms.

Perhaps the animal in the worst shape was a dog named Gretchen that was found in a laundry basket in the living room. Loring writes that Gretchen was dying. But, like many of the dogs who were rescued from Eden, Gretchen’s story had at least a somewhat happy ending.

Writes Loring, “Within two days of supportive veterinary care, Gretchen was able to walk, eat, open her eyes, and respond.”

Check-ins might not happen
At Merchant’s arraignment, Judge Dennis Pearson allowed her to keep four dogs and four cats, but with an important condition: Lamoille Valley Veterinarian Services must check on the house within 10 days of the arraignment, and regularly afterward, to make sure the animals were safe.

Trouble is, the vets didn’t agree to that.

Dr. Paula Yankauskas of Lamoille Valley Vet Services said Merchant had called the office before her arraignment, asking them to check up on her dogs, but didn’t mention it being a court-ordered condition of release. Yankauskas said there’s a whole realm of animal forensics that she and her staff just aren’t comfortable enough with to go to someone’s house to make sure they’re complying with the law.

“I told the public defender’s office that were weren’t asked to do that job specifically,” she said.

Yankauskas hadn’t even heard her office had been named in court until after the arraignment. She also said Merchant told her she has since given up the remaining animals, but that cannot be verified.

State’s Attorney Paul Finnerty, the lead prosecutor on the case, said Merchant proposed the arrangement. If another vet could do what Lamoille won’t, the court could be appeased, he said.

“My thoughts are, we’ll let the 10 days go by and see if she’s had it checked on,” Finnerty said.

(VT Digger - May 3, 2015)

Earlier:

• Dozens of animals rescued from Eden property
• Eden woman, Carol Merchant, charged with several felony counts of animal cruelty