- Pennsylvania, USA -
A horrific act of animal cruelty that happened in July 2020, led to the recent arrest of 48-year-old RAY HOOVER MARTIN.
SPCA officials and Lancaster County detectives executed an arrest warrant on MARTIN on Wednesday, May 12.
MARTIN is a breeder and is accused of using a kitchen knife to carve out part of a puppy’s eye without anesthesia or pain medication.
Penn Live reports that the investigation into MARTIN began after a veterinarian called the Pennsylvania SPCA’s Humane Law Enforcement Team on July 3, 2020.
An English Bulldog puppy had been brought in and the vet found that the furbaby was missing a portion of his/her eye anatomy.
The person who had brought the puppy in, did not have surgical records about the puppy’s condition.
MARTIN was later identified as the breeder.
From an investigation it emerged that the furbaby had developed a cherry eye (an inflamed or prolapsed gland of the third eyelid).
MARTIN admitted to investigators he had removed the cherry eye himself.
Detectives learned that MARTIN’s wife held down the puppy on their kitchen table while MARTIN heated up the knife and then burned and cut the cherry eye out of the puppy.
Nicole Wilson, Director of Humane Law Enforcement and Shelter Operations at the Pennsylvania SPCA said: “As the puppy ages, the eye will likely need lifelong ongoing medical treatment just to maintain the basic health of the eye.”
The puppy was placed with a loving family who are providing medical care.
MARTIN has been charged with one felony count of intentionally or knowingly torturing an animal and one misdemeanor count for failing to provide veterinary care to an animal at imminent risk of serious bodily injury.
Lancaster Online reports that MARTIN is free on a $10,000 unsecured bail and will face Judge Jonathan Heisse at his preliminary hearing on May 24.
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