Maryland: Merle and Sue Uskievich were running Alpha Group Animal Rescue. Now they've been charged with animal cruelty

MARYLAND -- A couple operating an animal rescue out of their home was charged with 10 counts of animal cruelty on July 27 in Rockville, Maryland.

 

Montgomery County Animal Services searched Merle Uskievich and Susan Uskievich’s (aka Sue Uskievich) home on the 6000 block of Granby Road on a warrant and found nearly 40 animals living in deplorable conditions.

 

Katherine Zenzano, a community outreach coordinator for the Montgomery County Animal Services & Adoption Center, says a total of nine chickens, 28 cats, and two dogs were seized on the property.

She says the living conditions were terrible. The chickens were allegedly covered in feces and kept outdoors in cramped crates.

Inside the home, Zenzano says there were large piles of stuff everywhere, giving officers only a foot-wide path to walk through. She says the cats and dogs had fleas all over them and there were also large amounts of feces in the home.

 

 

 

Fleas were visible in the animals’ fur and throughout the home, where the couple ran Alpha Group Animal Rescue.

One 13-week-old kitten was humanely euthanized due to poor health caused by flea infestation. Nine chickens in cramped, dirty crates were also found outside the house.

The Uskieviches said they had turned over all of their animals to Montgomery County Animal Services on July 27, but Animal Services received calls from the rescue’s retail partner about Susan Uskievich dropping off sick kittens in the days following the warrant.

 

Animal welfare groups that are currently transferring animals to Alpha Group Animal Rescue are asked to call the Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center at 240-773-5900 ext. 7.

What that last paragraph should say is "Animal welfare groups that are currently transferring animals to Alpha Group Animal Rescue are asked to call.... so that we can find out WHY YOU ARE SENDING ANIMALS TO PEOPLE WHEN YOU CLEARLY HAVEN'T INSPECTED THE PREMISES WHERE THESE ANIMALS ARE BEING HELD OR CONFIRMED THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE LEGIT AND ARE TRULY PROVIDING VETERINARY CARE AND REHOMING THESE ANIMALS. 

 

DO NOT GIVE PEOPLE ANIMALS UNTIL THEY HAVE BEEN VERIFIED TO BE LEGITIMATE RESCUES WITH PAPERWORK DOCUMENTING VET CARE, THAT THE ANIMALS HAVE TRULY BEEN REHOMED AND NOT STUFFED IN A BARN SOMEWHERE!

Sixty-nine-year-old Merle Uskievich faces seven animal cruelty charges, while 67-year-old Susan Uskievich faces three.

(WTOP - Aug 6, 2016)