Tag: animal cruelty

Monster Who Threw Dog Over L.A. Cliff 2 Times Gets Pathetic 2-Year Jail Sentence

In a video from a security camera that went viral in September 2016, a Pit Bull mix can be seen jumping through the passenger window into a car parked on a street in City Terrace, near Los Angeles.

A man gets out of the car, carrying the dog, and flings it over a cliff. The obese, bespectacled loser looks around as he walks back to his car, checking to see if anyone is watching.

The dog survived, but two days later the creep returned to the same spot, and again threw her over the cliff.

Fortunately, someone living across the street witnessed this heinous act and immediately began searching for the dog. “I came out here with my flashlight looking around, I was making some noise trying to get her attention and sure enough I saw her behind a bush off the cliff,” the unidentified good Samaritan told FOX 11.

Amazingly, once again the poor dog survived the fall — which prosecutors later said was about 145 feet — without any injuries. A bush stopped her from falling farther.

“She’s a very nice dog and very kind,” another nearby resident, Ruben Roque, told FOX 11. “I don’t know how somebody can do that to this dog.”

After the dog, who he named Hera Grrl, was temporarily taken by the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control as evidence in its animal cruelty investigation, Roque, a combat veteran, officially adopted her and has been showing her just what a loving home is like.

In February, the monster who threw Hera Grrl over the cliff twice was found and arrested. Andres Spancky Raya, 21, pleaded no contest to one felony count of animal cruelty.

The loser was already on probation for one felony count each of hit-and-run driving resulting in injury to another person, and grand theft auto, according to the Los Angeles Times. At the time, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Raya could face up to three years and eight months in jail.

Raya was finally sentenced yesterday. He must serve five years in state prison — but only two of those years are for the felony animal cruelty count. The other three years are for an unrelated first-degree residential burglary charge.

Doesn’t it seem like it should be the other way around, and he should serve much longer than two or three years for the cruel way he tried to kill his dog?

Dog with 300 Tumors Wanders into Hospital Chapel

Suffering what must have been unbearable, excruciating pain, an 11-year-old Boston Terrier named Pasha still had the ability and good sense to walk into Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, Calif. She was discovered in a corner of the hospital’s chapel.

Pasha’s little body was covered with 300 tumors. One of her eyes was severely ulcerated. Someone had wrapped a rubber band around one of the tumors, and it had become embedded in her skin.

It’s not known how Pasha ended up at the hospital, but her owner, Mary Sodaro, who lives about 90 miles away in Victorville, Calif., was arrested after she called Newport Beach animal control officers and asked about the dog, the Los Angeles Times reports. She’s been charged with a felony count of animal cruelty,  along with the misdemeanors of failing to care for an animal and allowing an animal to roam freely on a public street.

According to the Orange County district attorney’s office, Sodaro said she’d taken Pasha to a veterinarian recently, but would not allow her dog to be treated. Because of Pasha’s “irremediable pain and suffering,” the vet had offered to euthanize her free of charge, but Sodaro refused the offer.

She admitted she had wrapped the rubber band around a golf-ball-sized tumor on Pasha’s jaw because she thought it would cut off blood circulation and the tumor would fall off. But the rubber band became embedded in the tumor, resulting in a skin infection and even more pain for the already suffering dog.

“The fact that the tumor was rubber banded and continued to grow is disturbing,” Orange County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Malone told the Orange County Register. “The tumor had grown to such a size it affected Pasha’s ability to breathe. We have never seen neglect like this.”

The bittersweet news is that poor little Pasha is no longer in pain. A few days after she was found in the hospital chapel, a veterinarian humanely euthanized her.

Here’s the mug shot of the woman who intentionally let her dog suffer with hundreds of tumors. Sodaro listed her occupation as “Comedian” in the Orange County Jail booking log. How I wish it was a joke that the maximum sentence this monster will get is only three years and a half years in state prison.

SEPT. 6, 2017 UPDATE: Sodaro, who had been immediately sentenced to 26 days in jail, has pleaded guilty to the three misdemeanor charges and will not serve any additional jail time (!). She was placed on three years’ informal probation and ordered to undergo mental health counseling. The good news is that she is not allowed to own, possess, care for or live with a pet.

Photo via Hoag/Facebook

Jerk Ticketed for Transporting His Dog in a Ridiculously Dangerous Way

The dangerous ways in which some people choose to transport their pets is downright mind-boggling — inside the trunk of their car, for example (which is legal in California!), or chained to a flatbed on a busy freeway (which is legal in Texas!), or on the roof of a station wagon (as Mitt Romney famously enjoyed doing).

If a Darwin Award was handed out to people who cause their pets’ deaths due to their own stupidity, one of this year’s contenders would be a knucklehead from Flagler County, Fla. This person thought it was a good idea to put a kennel filled with dogs on a trailer attached to his SUV, tether a Pit Bull with one measly rope to the top of the kennel, and then go speeding 70 miles per hour down Highway 95 this week.

The poor dog, whose name is Zeus, can be seen crouching on top of the trailer in a video posted on Facebook by Brenna Cronin that’s been viewed over 1.7 million times.

“I was just completely outraged and appalled,” Cronin told ABC News. “I couldn’t believe it.” The dog, who has the letter “S” seared onto its leg, “stood up and was looking at me so sad,” she said. “I had to do something.”

When the dog saw her, Cronin told CNN he stood up and looked scared. “You know when dogs are happy, they have their tail wagging and a big smile. He was terrified,” she said.

On the other hand, when the driver of the Chevrolet Tahoe saw her recording the video, he flipped her off.

According to a Flagler County ordinance, dogs transported in the open beds of pickup trucks “should be in a pen or restrained by a minimum of two tethers or some other similar method,” KTVU reports. Zeus only had one tether.

Flagler County Animal Services has tracked down the dog’s owner, who — surprise, surprise — doesn’t want to be identified, and ticketed him, but would not indicate the charges.

The owner doesn’t think it’s any big deal. He told WTLV it was an “okay” way to transport dogs and “how everybody transports.”

“Everybody?” I’m 100 percent sure that no responsible dog owners or anyone in their right mind would transport their pets that way.

Here’s a photo of Zeus taken by another driver on the interstate. He looks miserable. Is there anything remotely “okay” about this?!

And what about the “S” on Zeus’ leg? Such branding is common for dogs forced to fight. The owner insisted Zeus is just a hunting dog who goes after hogs. He claimed the “S” was there when he got Zeus as a puppy.

Flagler County Animal Services is currently conducting a wellness check, according to WTLV, and will turn their findings over the the sheriff’s department. Here’s hoping Zeus is taken away from this jerk and rehomed with a much better owner — which shouldn’t be too difficult at all.

Photo via Facebook

PetSmart Groomer Charged with Animal Cruelty after Dachshund Dies

Henry, a 1-year-old Dachshund, was only supposed to get a grooming Sunday at a PetSmart in San Mateo, Calif.

But Henry ended up with a punctured lung and two broken ribs after spending only three minutes with groomer Juan Zarate. As Henry bled from his mouth and had difficulty breathing, an on-site veterinarian tried to save his life — to no avail.

“We know that the dog was brought there with no injuries or no known illnesses of any kind and we do believe that actions taken by the groomer, during the grooming session, is what caused the dog to die,” San Mateo Police Department Sgt. Rick Decker told ABC7 News.

Zarate was arrested at the store and charged with felony animal cruelty. He is out on bail and expected to make his first court appearance sometime in June.

An X-ray revealed Henry’s internal injuries. The Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA is conducting a necropsy (an autopsy for animals) to determine what caused Henry’s death.

Meanwhile, PetSmart is conducting its own investigation.

“We are heartbroken by the loss of Henry. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of pets, and we take full responsibility for the pets in our care,” the company said in a statement sent to ABC7 News.

“The individual involved has been placed on suspension pending the outcome of this investigation. Any incident of animal cruelty goes against everything we believe as a company and as individual pet parents. No words can express our deep sorrow for the family, and we will continue to work with the pet parent during this difficult time.”

Henry is not the only dog that has been killed or injured by a groomer at PetSmart (or Petco, or other pet stores). You may be surprised to know that pet groomers are not required to be licensed or certified in any U.S. state. They are regulated in New York City and Miami-Dade County, Fla., but not statewide.

New Jersey may be the first state to require licenses for groomers. The proposed law, “Bijou’s Bill,” is named in memory of a 6-year-old Shih Tzu who died during a routine grooming session — at a PetSmart store.

Until statewide laws are passed, to prevent a tragedy from happening to your own dog, it could be a life-or-death matter to ask the groomer some important questions, especially at PetSmart and Petco stores, where many of the incidents have occurred.

“It would behoove you to find out who your groomer is, how long they’ve been grooming, what kind of track record they have — you need to do this kind of work,” Bijou’s dog mom, Rosemary Marchetto, told CBS New York.

Photo via Twitter

GRRR: PetSmart Employee Allegedly Threw Caustic Disinfectant on Dogs

Ezekiel Reynard Pitts, who worked at a PetSmart store in Houston, was apparently having a bad day in February.

To make it worse, he told police, a dog in the store nipped at him. Pitts said that when he threw cleaning disinfectant at the dog, named Tulip, she jumped up, causing him to spill the caustic chemicals on another dog, Nala.

But the surveillance video from a security camera tells a different story, KPRC reports. Pitts can be seen measuring out the disinfectant, which he knew to be caustic because he’d been burned with it himself. He then threw it on both the dogs.

Tulip died from her injuries.

“We are heartbroken by the loss of Tulip and injuries sustained by Nala. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of pets, and we take full responsibility for the pets in our care,” PetSmart said in a statement, according to KPRC.

After conducting an internal investigation, PetSmart fired Pitts and contacted local police, who are investigating the incident.

Pitts was charged with felony cruelty to animals. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

“Any incident of animal cruelty goes against everything we believe as a company and as individual pet parents,” PetSmart stated. “No words can express our deep sorrow for the family.”

UPDATE: According to a June 2019 message from Angelina Pitts, “I would like you all to know Ezekiel’s trial is over and he has been found ‘NOT GUILTY.'” 

Photo credit: Anthony92931

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