Charges dropped in Eden dog abuse case

“We understand that the wheels of justice turn slowly,” said Nancy Cathcart, CEO and director of the Chittenden County Humane Society. “But in this case justice was certainly not served. Besides the enormous financial burden that a case of this magnitude takes on Vermont’s private, non-profit animal shelters and rescue groups, there is a long-term emotional toll to the animals, and to their rescuers.”

At the crux of whether to drop the charges is the question of whether Merchant needed mental health hospitalization. Last September, a doctor issued a report finding her incompetent to stand trial. 

Last Wednesday, Carlson ordered Merchant be placed in the custody of the state commissioner of mental health for 90 days, under the conditions that she follow treatment plans developed by Lamoille County Mental Health. Also during that 90-day period, she “shall not own, possess or provide any care for any animal.”

Those treatment plans have not yet been drawn up, and Carlson expressed his frustration that nearly nine months had passed since the doctor recommended treatment. The judge wrote in an April 12 order that he had been prepared to hear

both sides present an agreement based on mental health agency’s recommended treatment, but there was no plan in place despite having been told at status conferences in November and January that evaluation was underway at Lamoille County Mental Health.

“The court was surprised that no such plan existed,” Carlson wrote in his non-hospitalization order. He also expressed some frustration with the state, citing Supreme Court case law determining that the Department of Mental Health can order treatment, where courts are limited in that authority.

“These decisions convince the Court that although the Court was surprised and disappointed by the lack of engagement by the Department of Mental Health leading up to this hearing, the Supreme Court has indicated that the responsibility lies with the Department, not the Court, to ensure that adequate and appropriate treatment is provided in circumstances like these.”

The two-year-old case started in February 2015 when police and animal rescuers raided Merchant’s Route 100 home. A total of 94 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.

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.

Included in Merchant's case file are numerous entreaties to the court, hand-written and typed letters, greeting cards and stationery. One of the most recent — and most severe — came from the Waitsfield group For the Love of Dogs/Vermont Dog Rescue, which called the alleged crime “probably the worst animal abuse case in Vermont's history.”

The letter, which alleges Merchant has a history of neglect, goes on to opine that "animal abuse is the first indicator of violence to humans," a connection that prompts even the FBI to collect animal abuse data for later cases.

“It is a total disgrace for the State of Vermont to allow this woman to walk free,” the letter concluded. “Her lack of impunity will open the flood gates for other abusers.”