GAINESVILLE, Fla. — When investigators on the Michael Vick dogfighting case needed someone to dig up and analyze the remains of eight pit bulls buried on the football star’s Virginia property, they summoned Melinda Merck.
The nation’s top forensic veterinarian, Merck works for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to build court cases.
Merck, 46, is co-founder of the University of Florida’s veterinary forensic-science program, called “Animal CSI,” which has trained 200 people. She and scientists from the school’s human forensics lab share expertise with animal-cruelty officials, police and veterinarians from around the world as agencies recognize that those who abuse animals often target humans.
“With animal cruelty, there are usually no witnesses . . . and certainly the victims can’t testify, even if they’re alive,” Merck said. “So they’re always evidence-based cases.”
