11 dogs who died in trainer’s care were taken to be cremated, CA officials say
A dog trainer and his girlfriend accused in the deaths of nearly a dozen dogs left in their care posed as the pets’ owners to have the animals cremated to “avoid suspicion,” California prosecutors say.
Kwong (Tony) Chun Sit, 53, of Irvine, and his girlfriend, Tingfeng Liu, 23 of Vista, were each charged with multiple counts in connection to the death of 11 dogs, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a June 23 news release.
In a June 24 email to McClatchy News, Sit’s court-appointed attorney, Kate Corrigan, did not comment on his charges, saying she was in the discovery process and exploring her client’s defense.
McClatchy News was unable to immediately reach an attorney representing Liu on June 24.
“Our dogs love us unconditionally, and to have someone who advertised himself as a dog lover who would treat his clients’ dogs as his own be not only responsible for the deaths of these pets but then to enlist his girlfriend to cover up the animal abuse is beyond repulsive,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the release. “No animal deserves to be killed and then tossed aside like a piece of garbage.”
A dog owner called Irvine police Wednesday, June 18, after getting “a message from their dog trainer saying their dog had died in its sleep and had been cremated,” prosecutors said.
Police said their Animal Services Unit and patrol officers began investigating the couple, according to a June 20 news release.
Officers collected the bodies of multiple dogs from “different crematoriums that (the animals) had been dropped off by either Sit or Liu,” prosecutors said.
Those owners, too, had been told over text message that their dogs died and were cremated, according to prosecutors.
One dog was dropped off for cremation on June 13, while the rest of the dogs were left at crematoriums on June 18, according to prosecutors.
Two dogs were cremated before necropsies could be done, prosecutors said.
Necropsies showed two dogs died from heat stroke, while a third died from blunt force trauma, prosecutors said.
Six additional necropsies are pending, according to prosecutors.
“We don’t know how they died, when they died, his motive — we have zero answers,” one of the dog’s owners, Aimee Gutierrez, told the Orange County Register. “I feel lost. Because no matter what, I will never know exactly what happened and why.”
Gutierrez told the newspaper that Sit’s news of her dog’s death left her in “complete shock.”
“I thought it was a joke, that he was kidding, that he had the wrong dog,” Gutierrez reportedly said.
In an Instagram post, Gutierrez said her family adopted the “9-month-old Belgian Malinois from the pound” three weeks earlier.
“We named her Saint, and she lived up to that name every day we knew her,” she wrote. “She was sweet, smart, and gentle with our two daughters—she brought a light into our lives we didn’t know we needed.”
Gutierrez went on to say her dog “deserved better.”
“She was supposed to come home to a life of love, safety, and second chances,” she said. “I will never stop fighting for her—and for the other animals whose voices were taken away too soon.
Following an investigation, Sit and Liu were arrested Thursday, June 19, police said.
Sit, the owner of Happy K9 Academy, was “charged with 11 felony counts of animal cruelty, 11 felony counts of animal abuse by a caretaker, seven misdemeanor counts of attempting to destroy evidence and one misdemeanor count of destroying evidence,” prosecutors said.
Liu is facing “one felony count of accessory to a felony, one misdemeanor count of destruction of evidence and two misdemeanor counts of attempted destruction of evidence,” according to prosecutors.
At the time of their arrest, the couple was “packed and ready to flee,” according to prosecutors.
As such, the couple is each being held on $550,000 bail, as opposed to the initial $20,000 bail schedule, prosecutors said.
If convicted as charged, Sit faces a maximum 13 years and 11 month prison sentence, while Liu faces four years, prosecutors said.
Sit worked with pet owners throughout Southern California, according to police.
Anyone with information is asked to email police at rsteen@cityofirvine.org.
This story was originally published June 24, 2025 at 4:44 PM with the headline "11 dogs who died in trainer’s care were taken to be cremated, CA officials say."
