“Doc” Wexler Found Guilty of Illegal Veterinarian Operation

A Lusby man who operated a wildlife rehabilitation facility was found guilty Thursday in Calvert County District Court on two counts of illegal drug possession and one count of practicing veterinary medicine without a license.

Ronald Gene Wexler, 68, entered an Alford plea – where the defendant pleads guilty without acknowledging fault – to one count of possession of controlled dangerous substance–not marijuana, and a guilty plea to one count of drug possession–not marijuana–and one count of practicing veterinary medicine without a license.

Judge Michelle Saunders gave Wexler a six-month sentence for the possession of a controlled substance and then suspended the sentence. The judge ordered Wexler to pay a $500 fine for practicing without a license and imposed three years of unsupervised probation. The remaining 13 counts were placed on the Stet – or inactive – docket, meaning that if Wexler successfully fulfills his sentence, the state may drop the charges.

Wexler was arrested by Maryland Natural Resources Police in June after a year-long investigation of his facility, Orphaned Wildlife Rescue Center Inc.

Acting on a tip, officers, state wildlife veterinarians and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service searched his center in August 2015 and found animals that should have been euthanized due to the extent of their injuries, animals on which Wexler had performed surgery and an osprey held in a cage much too small, which led to muscle atrophy.

The search also found a host of drugs, including Oxycodone, Demerol, Pentobarbital and Fentanyl. Wexler did not have any licenses or prescriptions for the drugs, which are defined by the federal government as drugs with a high potential for abuse. Wexler goes by the nickname “Doc,” and refers to himself as a veterinarian on his web site however he does not have a veterinary license.

This year, prosecutors said, he performed surgery on ospreys and a black rat snake and acknowledged operating on other animals as well. Wexler told officers that it was not cost effective to send every animal he admitted to his center to an independent veterinarian.