ASPCA Experts Help Secure Puppy Mill Conviction

some good news about animal welfare campaigns from ASPCA (american society for prevention of cruelty to animals)
from:http://www.aspca.org/news/national/05-08-09.html#1

This past March, Dr. Melinda Merck, ASPCA Senior Director of Veterinary Forensics, helped secure an animal cruelty conviction by testifying in the trial of Kathy Bauck, operator of Pick of the Litter Kennels. The New York Mills, MN, breeder sells animals to pet stores and online—and has at times housed more than 1,300 dogs of at least 32 different breeds. Bauck was arrested in August 2008 and charged with several counts of felony animal cruelty, torture and practicing veterinary medicine without a license. On March 24, after a 4½-day trial and six hours of deliberation, a jury cleared Bauck of felony charges but found her guilty of four misdemeanors (one count of animal cruelty and three counts of torture).

In early 2008, a freelance animal cruelty investigator, Jason Smith, began working at Pick of the Litter to gather evidence against Bauck. Smith submitted testimony and videos of alleged abuse to Otter Tail County sheriff’s detectives last May. The videos included footage of injured, ill and emaciated dogs, as well as of Bauck dunking dogs in vats of insecticide. “The veterinarian working with the prosecution contacted me about one month before the trial started,” recalls Dr. Merck. “I was asked by the prosecutor to review all the video and case files and provide expert opinion.”