Stevenson, who could not be reached for comment, operates Twin Valley Veterinary Clinic in Honey Brook, and has been licensed by the state since 1987.
He was charged with animal cruelty after an undercover investigator with the Pennsylvania SPCA said she witnessed him place the tail of a nine-week-old poodle-mix puppy under scalding water before amputating it with tin snips and without anesthesia.
The Lancaster County kennel where the March 10 incident took place was filthy and filled with cages that had no food or water, according to the state's petition to the veterinary board.
A Lancaster County district judge, at a hearing last month, found there was sufficient evidence to hold Stevenson for trial on the first-degree misdemeanor charge. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Lancaster County Court on May 27.
Among Stevenson's clients are some of the largest commercial kennels in Lancaster and Chester Counties. He also provides veterinary health certificates for puppies sold in New Jersey pet stores.
Stevenson also was named in a New Jersey consumer-fraud lawsuit against Joyce and Raymond Stoltzfus of CC Pets, one of the largest puppy brokers in Pennsylvania. The New Jersey suit alleges that Stevenson provided CC Pets with fraudulent health certificates.
Contact staff writer Amy Worden at 717-783-2584 or aworden@phillynews.com.
