Pasadena, CA: Neighbors describe 40 year old Dreamworks animator Young Song as a loving husband and father who has 3 dogs and chickens as pets. He was allegedly caught on security camera videotape climbing over a neighbor’s fence, shooting his muzzled German Shepherd Dog with a pellet gun, then coming back with a hammer to finish the dog off.
“When our officers first viewed the videotape, one of our officers had tears in his eyes. He’d never seen anything like this before,” said Steve McNall, who heads the Pasadena Humane Society and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “In my 31 years at this animal shelter I’ve never seen anything like this.”
The dog is currently “missing”:
Surveillance camera video shows the beating but does not reveal what Song did with the dog, which is missing and presumed dead.
[…]
The dog’s owner returned to a bloody scene, and discovered that his dog was missing.
For those unfamiliar with Dreamworks Animation, the company makes computer generated cartoon movies for kids including Shrek and Madagascar.
Mr. Song has been charged with one felony count of animal cruelty and one misdemeanor count of theft of a dog. He pleaded not guilty in court last week.
Sounds like a serial killer in training. Let’s hope he stays locked up!
Damn. So glad they caught him on camera. How do you plead “not guilty” to that?
Whatever issues were brewing between the neighbors (security camera, muzzled dog), there’s no rationalizing the brutality.
Web cams, video cams and security cams–there have been quite a few cases in the past year or so where animal abusers have been identified and caught thanks to these devices.
Here’s one case where the perp went down based on video recorded by his horrified neighbors:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/18/BABI1HPGQI.DTL
No technology involved in this one, but the dog killer got a much stiffer sentence because he tried to scare the neighbor who saw him into silence. They testified anyway and he went down with a 15-year sentence:
http://www.macon.com/2011/04/27/1539450/man-gets-15-years-in-dog-beating.html
Keep those cameras rolling and don’t be afraid to speak up.
I agree that these surveillance systems have helped to trap perps, but how can anyone stand there and film, and not try to stop such brutality>?????
I agree–that would be very hard emotionally. But
you need evidence to convict. If the neighbors in Oakland had just called the police when they heard the beating, the guy might not even have gotten arrested. There was a recent situation in GA where 7 adult men were kicking a little pitbull into the air when the police showed up. They all lied and said the dog was aggressive and they were defending themselves. No arrests were made. But luckily a volunteer for the local shelter rode with the cops and she questioned a
child about what happened. She got the truth.
That dog is safe now–in a good place where he’s
getting excellent care and rehab for his physical and emotional injuries. But if the vol hadn’t been there, the dog would probably have been impounded and put down.
I’m not sure many of us are equipped to confront a violent abuser in the act of abuse and put a stop to it. Call 911. And get some evidence if you’re in a position to do so.
This is just one of the reasons I have cameras all around my house. Not only to track what is going on around the house- but also to track what my dogs are doing – or IF someone messes with the dogs. Since I have pit bulls and have seen people taunt the dogs from time to time – and when I have asked them as politely as I could to stop they walk away and wait to come back and do it all over again. I have even told people that if they torment the dogs and then get bit because of it that they will be facing charges. One person got lippy with me and said if my dog did bite him that he would sue my butt off. I just laughed and said – “Well YOU are the on on camera tormentng MY dog…I think the cops will see that the dogs was tormented into biting you.” FINALLY – they left to never return AND I have noticed thatmst of my neighborhood now knows of our cameras and they steer far away from my yard!
I kinda want to know why a dog was left unattended in a yard wearing a muzzle. I do hope it was a basket muzzle, because the kind that holds the dog’s mouth shut would have prevented him from panting or drinking or eating anything, which would could have potentially caused him to overheat. Also, the dog could have injured himself trying to get the muzzle off, or got the muzzle caught on something. I wouldn’t leave a muzzle on a dog unattended for the same reason some people balk at leaving collars on unattended dogs, and some horse people balk at leaving halters on horses in the pasture.
That said, I hope they throw the book at the guy who shot and beat the dog. That’s terrible.
So much hate and lack of self control in this world. So sad. This man has hurt himself, his whole family, and his neighbors’ family, and the dog. What was he thinking or not thinking?
This is one “Song” that should never have been written.
Too bad his parents didnt use condoms.
Its terrible but my main concerns are why would he do this and what was he thinking.
So sad. I hope he is convicted and goes to jail for a looong time. Crap like this is why I keep my dog inside at all times unless she goes to go to the bathroom, in which case I go too. I dont think my neighbors are that insane though anyway.