Zoo Director Pleads Guilty in Wallaby Death

Reston Zoo director Meghan Mogensen, accused of drowning a wallaby, avoids second trial by entering guilty plea in Fairfax County General District Court.

Meghan Mogensen, the Reston Zoo director who in September was found guilty in Fairfax County General District Court of animal cruelty and drug possession, has pleaded guilty to the charges, the Virginia State Attorney General's Office says. Mogensen, 27, was supposed to begin the appeal of her 30-day sentence Feb. 13 in county Circuit Court. Instead, as part of a deal with prosecutors, she pleaded guilty on Friday to the the animal cruelty charges, the Washington Post reports. In the deal, the charge for possession of an animal euthanasia drug without a license was dropped. Mogensen's 30-day sentence has been upheld and she is barred from making decisions about the care or euthanasia of animals if she serves as an animal caretaker or …

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Reston Zoo Director's Appeal Date Postponed

Fairfax County Circuit Court hearing for Reston Zoo director Meghan Mogensen, who was found guilty of animal cruelty and drug possession in September, continued until February.

The Fairfax County Circuit Court hearing for the Reston Zoo director charged with animal cruelty and drug possession has been postponed until Feb. 19, 2013. Meghan Mogensen was found guilty on both charges in county General District Court in September. She was scheduled to appear in Circuit Court on Thursday. The charges stem from an incident in January, in which an injured wallaby at the petting zoo was euthanized. Mogensen maintains she humanely put the animal down with a lethal injection. However, a disgruntled zoo employee called authorities after she says Mogensen, whose father is the zoo's owner, drowned the animal in a bucket and threw his body in a dumpster. After a one-day bench trial in which nearly two dozen veterinary and …

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Reston Zoo Director Has Circuit Court Date

Meghan Mogensen, found guilty in Fairfax County General District Court in September, will have Circuit Court hearing Nov. 15.

Meghan Mogensen, the Reston Zoo director found guilty of animal cruelty and possessing a controlled substance in a Fairfax County General District Court bench trial in September, will return to court later this month. Because Mogensen and her attorney Caleb Kershner are appealing the verdict, Mogensen will have a new trial at 10 a.m. Nov. 15 in Fairfax County Circuit Court. Mogensen was charged with the misdemeanors earlier this year after a former employee at the zoo said Mogensen inhumanely euthanized an injured wallaby in January. The employee said Mogensen put the wallaby, named Parmesan, to death by drowning it in a bucket of water. Mogensen said she humanely euthanized the wallaby by lethal injection. An investigation found no …

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Reston Zoo Head Found Guilty in Wallaby Death

Judge rules Meghan Mogensen acted inhumanely euthanizing an injured animal last winter.

Reston Zoo Director Meghan Mogensen - accused of inhumanely euthanizing an injured wallaby - was found guilty by a Fairfax County General District judge Friday on counts of animal cruelty and possession of a controlled substance. After a one-day bench trial, Judge Ian O'Flaherty sentenced Mogensen, 26, to a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail on the animal cruelty charge and a $250 fine and suspension of her driver's license for six months on the drug count. Both of the charges are misdemeanors. "This was a cruel method of killing an animal," O'Flaherty said. Mogensen, who lives in Silver Spring, did not speak in her own defense nor did she comment when the judge asked if she had anything to say upon sentencing. Her attorney, Caleb Kershner, …

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Reston Zoo Director in Court Friday

Meghan Mogensen is charged with animal cruelty misdemeanor drug possession after wallaby's death.

Meghan Mogensen, the director of the Reston Zoo who was charged in June with animal cruelty and possession of a controlled substance, is scheduled for a 10:45 a.m. hearing in Fairfax County General District Court on Friday. Mogensen, 26, was arrested June 22 after a months-long investigation revealed suspect practices in the death of an injured wallaby at the petting zoo on the Reston-Vienna border. She was charged with animal cruelty and possession of a controlled substance, both misdemeanors. Animal Control Officers were alerted in January to a situation at the facility, at 1228 Hunter Mill Road in Vienna, after an employee complained of suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of an adult wallaby. On Jan. 26, officers opened an …

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Reston Zoo Director Charged in Wallaby Death

Facility head charged with cruelty to animals and possession of an improper substance.