Pet store performing surgery without anesthesia
Lynwood, CA (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Jun 15, 2007
County: Los Angeles

Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Young Sam Park

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

A pet store owner was indicted on June 18 for allegedly performing surgery on animals without anesthesia, suffocating them with rubber gloves and disposing of sick and dying pets in a trash bin.

The owner of the Animal House Pet Store, Young Sam Park, 52, pleaded not guilty to 26 felony counts of animal cruelty that range from torturing to mutilation.

"There's one case of him throwing a kitten against a wall," said District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons. "These were people's pets."

Park faces up to 22 years in prison.

According to the indictment, he deprived animals in his care of food and water and taped them to tables during surgery. He also performed surgeries with dirty tools, and stitched up pets afterward with staples, wire, and fishing line, according to the indictment.

The charges included the cruel treatment of at least 20 cats and dogs, including a German shepherd, a Chihuahua, a Rottweiler, a cocker spaniel, a guinea pig and pet rats.

Park was also charged with three misdemeanors for practicing veterinary medicine without a license and one felony count for possessing a controlled substance, an anesthetic.

Park was arrested on June 15 afternoon and appeared in court on June 18 wearing jeans and tan polo shirt. He looked calm until he spotted his wife and daughter in the gallery, speaking to them nervously in Korean.

Judge Steven R. Van Sicklen declined to grant the defense's request to reduce Park's bail, which was set at $451,500.

The Animal House Pet Store was open for business Monday afternoon.

"That tells you something, that we're not criminals in here killing dogs or something," said Park's daughter and store manager, Monica Park, 25.

Monica Park said the accusations against her father were false.

"I'm here most of the time, and if I saw that I would report my father," she said. "My father's a small person, and I don't think he would do those kind of things."

Park said the store currently does not have a license to groom animals or sell puppies because of a previous three-month dispute with Lynwood's Business Licensing Department. She blamed the investigation and his arrest on fallout from the dispute.

"That hearing lasted three months, and during that time my family struggled a lot, and we won," she said.

Case Updates

References

• « CA State Animal Cruelty Map

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