A dog trainer has been found guilty of causing the deaths of 11 dogs by leaving them unattended in a hot van and then attempting to hide the evidence by burning their bodies. Kwong ‘Tony’ Chun Sit, who ran Happy K9 Academy in Orange County, California, was convicted on June 17 on 11 counts of animal cruelty, as well as charges related to tampering with evidence and obstructing the investigation.
His girlfriend, Tingfeng Liu, was also convicted of crimes related to assisting in the cover-up. The dogs were confined in small crates inside the hot van, resulting in their deaths from heat stroke. One of the dogs, Rosie, a sheepdog poodle puppy, also suffered blunt force trauma. Sit falsely claimed to be the dogs’ owners in order to have the animals cremated.
District Attorney Todd Spitzer condemned the heinous actions, stating that the dogs’ worst fear of being abandoned became a tragic reality due to the cruelty of Sit and Liu. He emphasized that those who mistreat animals deserve a special place in hell, especially someone who could harm a defenseless puppy.
The Irvine Police Department initiated an investigation after dog owners received messages informing them that their pets had died and been cremated. The owners shared these suspicious text messages with the authorities, leading to the discovery of the deception. Sit had sent a message to one owner on June 18, 2025, falsely claiming that the dog had passed away peacefully.
The investigation uncovered that Sit and Liu had taken the dogs’ bodies to different crematoriums to avoid detection. The couple’s actions were exposed, and they were held accountable for their crimes.
