Irvine pet trainer, girlfriend charged after 11 dogs die, cremated to conceal cause

Irvine dog trainer charged with death of 11 dogs

An Irvine animal trainer and his girlfriend were charged in connection with the deaths of 11 dogs, including nine whose bodies were recovered by police, authorities said Monday.

IRVINE, Calif. - An Irvine dog trainer and his girlfriend have been charged with the deaths of 11 dogs that were in their care.

Kwong (Tony) Chun Sit, 53, 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. 

His girlfriend, Tingfeng Liu, 23, was charged with one felony count of accessory to a felony, one misdemeanor count of destruction of evidence, and two misdemeanor counts of attempted destruction of evidence.

Sit faces a maximum sentence of 13 years and 1 month, and Liu faces a maximum sentence of four years in custody if convicted on all charges.

Dig deeper:

The Irvine Police Department began their investigation after one of the dogs’ owners contacted police to report that they had received a message from their dog trainer saying their dog had died in its sleep and had been cremated. 

Once the department’s Animal Services Unit opened an investigation, they quickly recovered the bodies of multiple dogs at different crematoriums. 

Officials said the owners of the dogs were notified via text that their pet had passed away and had been cremated.

Sit and Liu allegedly impersonated the pets’ owners in order to have the bodies cremated in an attempt to conceal how the dogs died in their care. They also dropped off the dogs at various crematoriums in an apparent attempt to avoid suspicion, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said.

Necropsies performed on three of the dogs revealed that two of them died from heat stroke and another died from blunt force trauma. Two of the dogs were cremated before they could be recovered, and necropsies are pending on the remaining six animals, the DA's office stated. 

All but one dog was dropped off at crematoriums on June 18, 2025. The body of the first dog was dropped off on June 13, 2025.

Sit was a trainer at K9 Academy which was advertised online as having a variety of boarded dog training services, including one-to-four-week training sessions ranging from $999 to $3,399.

What they're saying:

"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. No animal deserves to be killed and then tossed aside like a piece of garbage. The abuse of any animal will not be tolerated, and we will prosecute this case and every case of animal abuse to the fullest extent of the law," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. 

What's next:

Sit and Liu are being held in lieu of $550,000 bail after Orange County prosecutors argued a significant deviation from the $20,000 bail schedule was warranted given the fact that the couple was packed and ready to flee when they were arrested on Thursday. They were ordered to surrender their passports, not have access to any animals, and stay away from the victims’ families.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the Irvine Police Department at rsteen@cityofirvine.org.