Los Angeles officials on Tuesday pledged to thoroughly investigate and prosecute animal cruelers after more than 25 animal cruelty cases have been filed in LA County over the past six weeks.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, along with Robert Luna of Los Angeles and officials from the Los Angeles and Long Beach police departments, promised that they would hold the abusers accountable while protecting the animals during newspaper meetings, saying the cruelty towards animals was a “red flag.”
“In many cases, if we can do this type of cruelty to animals, then the next step is to do this type of cruelty to humans,” Hochmann said.
The indictment was 28-year-old Esteban Garcia. He was accused of dropping a five-year-old bulldog named Adriana at Head before kicking her and threw her into a stack of tires in the Florence area of South Los Angeles. Surveillance video footage from April 7 showed Garcia left a dog who also had illegal drugs on her system.
Luckily, Adriana has been rescued and she is currently recovering under the care of a foster parent.
Garcia could be up to three years in the county jail, Hochman said.
“We don’t often have one of the surviving victims,” the district attorney said, introducing the dog at a press conference. “Adriana, we will do our best we can with this to bring justice to you.”
However, not all animals were as lucky as Adriana. Hope, a Corgi Chihuaua Mix, was hanged and hit in the head by one of La Verne’s family. Blaze Primer, 23, later told police that she killed Hope because of her barking.
If convicted, Primer could win three years at the county jail.
Los Angeles officials are committed to fully investigating and prosecuting cruelty to animals. Source: LA County District Attorney’s Office.
“We do not tolerate cruelty to unprotected animals,” said LA County Sheriff Robert Luna. “If you witness or suspect cruelty, please report it to your local law enforcement immediately.”
According to Deputy Director Alan Hamilton, LAPD, which lost its Animal Cruelty Task Force in 2021 due to fundraising issues, deals with animal cruelty cases as seriously as other criminal cases.
“We will investigate these cases in a way that will lead to successful arrest and prosecution of the suspect,” Hamilton said. “We continue to provide training to staff to understand the complexity of such investigations and to ensure successful district and city counsel applications.”
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