BEL AIR, Md. — A Bel Air pharmacist who killed his dog by injecting it with stolen medication was sentenced to one year behind bars Tuesday.
Ryan Kenneth Ball, a licensed pharmacist who worked at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center pleaded guilty to one count each of aggravated animal cruelty and obtaining a prescription by fraud.
It all started in July 2024, when Ball's neighbor discovered two vials at the bottom of their trash cans.
The vials contained rocuronium and succinylcholine, drugs generally used to intubate patients undergoing a surgical operation.
In order to safely administer the medication, doctors say there needs to be some sort of ventilation available, or else the death becomes likely.
Neighbors told investigators that Ball owned a 6-year-old hound dog named Louie, that recently passed away.
Detectives became suspicious because word got around that Ball didn't like Louie, and actually tried getting rid of him in the past.
Animal control raced to find Louie before he could be sent in for cremation. They instead took his body for a toxicology test at Penn State University.
The Veterinary Director there ruled Louie's death a drug overdose, finding blood in his heart contained 2,400 ng/mL of rocuronium and less than 5 ng/g of succinylcholine.
"The concentration of rocuronium was similar to those reported in humans under full surgical anesthesia with ventilatory support and would have resulted in near-complete neuromuscular paralysis with respiratory failure and death within several minutes of intravenous injection," the Vet opined. "The patient would experience awareness with paralysis, and would be conscious as the drugs took effect."
Prosecutors successfully argued that Ball used his employee access at the hospital to bring the drugs home and kill Louie.
The judge prohibited Ball from having any pets upon his probationary release.
Upper Chesapeake Medical Center sent this statement to WMAR-2 News in response to Ball's sentence.
"Upon learning of the allegations last summer, the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health took swift action and worked closely with law enforcement and the Harford County State's Attorney's Office in the investigation. There is absolutely no room for something like this to occur at any of our facilities, and we have a zero-tolerance approach to such behavior. There was no risk to team members, patients or visitors at any time and we are taking steps to ensure that this cannot happen in the future."
