Ronald Gene “Doc” Wexler
Lusby, MD – He has been hailed as a “hometown hero” for dedicating his time and home to the rehabilitation of wild animals who have no owner to pay a veterinarian’s bill. Then last June, a corporal with the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) was assigned to investigate the man everyone calls “Doc.”
In an application for statement of charges filed in District Court of Maryland for Calvert County, Cpl. Michael Lathroum stated he was assigned to review “a 20-plus page complaint letter which had been received by the Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service [WHS] alleging violations of state, and federal laws and regulations by a licensed wildlife rehabilitation organization, identified as the Orphaned Wildlife Rescue Center (OWRC) in Lusby. The complaint letter had already been reviewed by WHS and the [Maryland] Attorney General’s Office and the attorney general recommended the complaint be investigated.”
Lathroum stated that the letter which was sent to state officials in late April 2015 “alleges violations of wildlife rehabilitation regulations, violations involving rabies vector species, performing veterinary medicine without a license, animal cruelty and possible controlled dangerous substance violations.”
The rescue center is operated by Ronald Gene “Doc” Wexler, who founded the facility in 1990. On the center’s web site it is reported that Wexler had once been a volunteer at a wildlife sanctuary that had been located in Bowie prior to coming to Calvert County.
A search and seizure warrant was executed last August on the rescue center, which is located in the Chesapeake Ranch Estates subdivision. In addition to NRP, personnel from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted the search and seizure. Just over a dozen drugs—all classified as controlled dangerous substances (CDS) schedules II, III and IV—were found and seized.
According to court records, the team conducting the search and seizure observed “a lactating female Virginia opossum with non-treatable spinal trauma being kept alive in order to feed its litter, a cottontail rabbit with non-treatable spinal trauma being kept alive apparently in hopes that it would be releasable, an osprey which was being housed in a cage which was much too small for it, resulting in muscle atrophy and feather damage to the bird.”
Lathroum stated in the court summary that the opossum and rabbit “should have been euthanized upon arrival” adding that neither animal stood a chance of being successfully rehabilitated and returned to the wild.
When the team of investigators interviewed Wexler, Lathroum stated he “admitted during the interview that he is in fact not a veterinarian ever though the OWRC web site indicates he is a veterinarian and he goes by the nickname of ‘Doc.’ ”
Lathroum stated in the court summary that Wexler “defends his actions by stating he has seven veterinarians on the Orphaned Wildlife Rescue Center Inc.’s Board. Not that during the approximately 12 hours which investigators were on scene at [the] location we never observed a veterinarian affiliated with the OWRC on site to consult, triage, treat, assist or perform any necessary procedures on the injured wildlife. Mr. Wexler also indicated that it was not cost-effective to send every animal which they admitted to a veterinarian.”
While Wexler is scheduled to appear in District Court Aug. 8 to answer to the 13 charges filed against him by the state, the court of public opinion on social media has been supportive of the OWRC.
“He’s taken great care of animals and honestly I don’t believe for one second he intended to harm any one of them,” said one woman who asked that The BayNet not use her name.
Last summer, Wexler was one of 20 individuals nominated for the “Calvert You Are Beautiful” award. In her nomination statement, Bonnie C. Rogers noted that Wexler was given the nickname “Doc” when he was seven years-old “because Ron frequently brought home injured baby animals in need of care.” Rogers called Wexler “a teacher to whom rehabilitators, veterinarians and students come to learn animal healing skills and expertise. Doc’s mission is to help the community with wildlife emergencies and to educate the public about our wildlife and environmental issues. Doc is one man who makes the difference between life and death for creatures great and small, and of all species. Doc has been called the St. Francis of the wildlife world. That is his life.”
In a court statement filed June 7, Wexler is charged with five counts of possession of CDS Schedule II—Demerol, Pentobarbital, Buprenex, Fentalyl and Oxycodone; one count of possession of CDS Schedule III—Ketamine; four counts of possession of CDS Schedule IV—Midazolam, Alprazolam, Phenobarital, and Butorphanol; and three counts of cruelty to animals.
Lathroum also recommended that Wexler be charged with three counts of practicing veterinary medicine without a license. While the recommendation is noted in the statement of charges, the court system’s docket summary only lists the first 13 charges.
State officials have not divulged the name or names of the individual or individuals who filed the complaint against Wexler.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com