Dog Trainer Sentenced for Animal Cruelty
A dog trainer from Orange County, Kwon “Tony” Chun Sit, was sentenced on Friday to nearly 12 years in prison for the tragic deaths of 11 dogs. Prosecutors allege that he left these dogs confined in cramped cages within a hot van, leading to their deaths.
Sit, 54, who resides in Irvine, received a sentence of 11 years and 10 months after being convicted by a jury of animal cruelty and for destroying evidence related to the case. His girlfriend, Tingfeng Liu, 24, was also sentenced to three years in prison for her role in covering up the incident.
According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, “An Irvine dog trainer was sentenced today for murdering 11 dogs by storing them in small boxes in a hot van that died of heatstroke, then impersonating the pet owners and having the dogs’ bodies cremated to conceal the cause of the dogs’ deaths.” Liu was found guilty of aiding in the cover-up, with the couple reportedly dropping off the dogs’ remains at another crematorium to evade suspicion.
The case came to light when a distraught pet owner contacted the Irvine police after receiving a text notification that her dog had died. Investigators later discovered a van filled with dog crates that had a strong smell of bleach during a search of Sit’s residence.
A necropsy showed that eight of the dogs succumbed to heatstroke, while another died from blunt force trauma. Unfortunately, two of the dogs had already been cremated, making it difficult to determine their cause of death.
During the sentencing hearing, one pet owner expressed her grief, stating, “Our minds can’t help but relive Saint’s final moments over and over again every day.” Another owner described the loss as a “tragedy,” emphasizing that the number of animals lost was “abhorrent.”
Mr. Sit claimed to have a monthly income of about $20,000 and apologized in court, but maintained that the dogs “didn’t die in the van.” He has been charged with 19 felonies and, along with Liu, has been held on a $550,000 bail since their arrest.
