Revisited: October 29, 2003

Written By Justin Merriman


This photograph is from October of 2003. I was working for the Valley News Dispatch and received a call from my city editor telling me about a local dog that was bitten by a rabid skunk. He asked me to go to the home and see if I could get a photo of the dog and it's owner. Before my editor hung up he told me that the owner might actually put the dog down himself but he didn't want me to stay for that. I quickly drove to the address my editor gave me. When I got to the home there was no answer at the front door. I walked around the back and found Joe Burdek digging a grave for his dog, Pooh Bear. I introduced myself and talked to Joe for quite some time. He explained to me that he never got the dog his rabies shot and couldn't afford to take him to a vet. I asked him what he planned to do with the dog and he told me that once I left he was going to shoot it. I paused for a moment and then asked him if I could stay for that. I explained to him that it is important for people to see the reality of this unfortunate situation. He seemed to hesitate but after thinking for a few minutes he agreed to let me stay. Immediately he went back to digging the grave and I stepped off to the side. As he dig the grave he would often stop and lean on the shovel and cry. He quickly finished the grave and walked over to a table and picked up a .22 caliber pistol that he had wrapped in a towel. He tucked it in the back of his belt and walked towards the dog. He grabbed the dog's leash and pulled the dog closer to the shallow grave. As he held the dog with one hand he reached back with the other and grabbed the pistol. I quickly pointed it towards the dog's head and pulled the trigger. I was behind him and waited for the shot. All I heard was a click. The gun misfired. He pulled it back, cocked it again and placed it back to the dog's head. Once the gun fired he quickly pushed his beloved pet of 8 years into the grave and began covering him up with the freshly dug dirt. He shoveled quickly and soon the grave was filled. He patted the top of the loose dirt with his shovel and turned to me. I don't remember what he said to me or what I said to him, but do remember I left very soon after. The top photo ran in the newspaper and the bottom one didn't.
Justin Merriman

Justin Merriman, a freelance photojournalist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has traveled the world to cover politics, wars, natural disasters, civil unrest as well as covering assignment throughout the United States. His work has appeared in leading national publications and he has received multiple top journalism awards.   

After covering the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks – including the crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania – Merriman committed to chronicling the U.S. military and its war on terror.  He has followed this story across the United States and into the conflict zones of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He also has covered life in Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 2002, India’s efforts to eradicate polio from its population, the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba in 2012, the 2013 conclave and election of Pope Francis in Rome, the second anniversary of Egypt’s revolution and subsequent unrest, Russia’s invasion of Crimea and the international political crisis that unfolded in Ukraine in 2014, a look inside of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in 2015 and its uncertain future, and most recently, traveled the entire U.S. border with Mexico documenting issues on immigration. 

Merriman’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Time, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and other publications across the globe. 

He has been recognized with numerous regional, national and international awards from organizations including Pictures of the Year International, Society of Professional Journalists, the National Press Photographers Association, the Society for News Design, the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, the Northern Short Course, the Southern Short Course, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the Military Reporters and Editors Association, and the Western Pennsylvania Press Club. He was awarded Photographer of the Year by the News Photographer Association of Greater Pittsburgh four times and most recently was honored with the Keystone Press Award’s 2016 Distinguished Visual Award from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Merriman graduated from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Writing. In 2009, the university awarded him its prestigious Alumnus of Distinction award. 

Currently Merriman lives in Oakmont with his fiancé, Stephanie Strasburg, a photojournalist with PublicSource. 

http://www.justinmerriman.com
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Revisited: April 4, 2003