Top SPCA Vet Fired After Kennel Probe

PHILADELPHIA - There is another shakeup at the SPCA as the top vet has been fired.

First the CEO, now the medical director. Their departures are apparently not related, but still alarming, and abrupt, reported Fox 29's John Atwater.

In his more than two decades with the PSPCA, Dr. Ravi Murarka became a fixture in Philadelphia. His image even adorns a mural on a wall near the facility.

With anger in his voice, his concern for animals often hit the airwaves in news reports.

He's rescued and rehabilitated countless animals, but now, the SPCA board says a conflict of interest derailed his career here.

A rowhome, actually a licensed kennel, is where they say the trouble began. Pit bulls live in the basement and the kennel owner used Dr. Murarka as a vet.

An inspection there, a few weeks ago, revealed what the state says were unsatisfactory conditions: dogs not vaccinated for rabies, sanitation problems, and poor record-keeping.

When the SPCA caught word of the doctor's connection, a board member says it presented an inherent conflict of interest, suggesting that the dogs could have been sold as fighters.

The kennel owner tells Fox 29 News that he only raises the pit bulls to give to friends. He wouldn't show us the dogs or the basement they live in.

The board member says the doctor had an obligation to report substandard conditions if they existed, but that because he did not, he was promptly dismissed.

The doctor hasn't yet returned our calls. He gets high praise from everyone Fox 29 spoke with at the SPCA, and at the kennel.

The state says it has not launched a formal investigation and that the decision to dismiss was solely that of the SPCA.