Pa. man who cut puppy's eye with kitchen knife pleads guilty

A Lancaster County dog breeder accused of trying to perform a medical procedure on a puppy’s eye with a hot kitchen knife has pleaded guilty, according to the SPCA and Lancaster County Detectives. According to the joint statement, Ray Martin of New Holland pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty for “recklessly ill-treating an animal in his care and causing bodily injury.”

In 2020, the PSPCA’s Humane Law Enforcement team was contacted by a veterinarian about an English Bulldog puppy that had been purchased from Martin. According to the SPCA, the puppy was missing a part of its eye’s anatomy and had no surgical or veterinary records. No explanation for the condition was given to the new owner.

Investigators found that Matin, 49, had removed a cherry eye, which is an inflamed or prolapsed gland of the third eyelid, from the puppy, the SPCA said. He did so by heating a knife, burning it, and then cutting the cherry eye out in his kitchen. This was also done without any anesthesia or pain medication, the SPCA said.

Martin’s plea forced him to surrender 17 dogs to the SPCA on June 30, along with two years of unsupervised probation. He will be prohibited from owning, contacting, controlling, possessing or gaining financial profit from dogs for five years.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/08/pa-man-who-cut-puppys-eye-with-kitchen-knife-pleads-guilty-spca.html