An El Monte family was shattered to learn via text from their Irvine dog trainer that Saint, their Belgian Malinois puppy, had died overnight — a heartbreak that has turned to anger as they learned that eight other dogs also died in the trainer’s care on the same day.
The trainer — 53-year-old Kwong “Tony” Chun Sit — and his girlfriend — 23-year-old Tingfeng Liu — have since been arrested by Irvine police on suspicion of animal cruelty and tied to the deaths of at least 10 dogs. The couple is also accused of destruction of evidence, after police say allege they tried to have the dogs cremated, a process officers were able to head off.
The dog owners are awaiting the results of necropsies performed by veterinary professionals to find out exactly how their beloved pets died. In the meantime, Aimee Gutierrez, Saint’s owner, and her family has been shattered by her loss and the deaths of the other dogs.
“We don’t know how they died, when they died, his motive — we have zero answers,” Gutierrez said Sunday. “I feel lost. Because no matter what, I will never know exactly what happened and why.”
Three weeks before Saint’s death, Gutierrez recalls picking the 9-month-old puppy up from the Baldwin Park shelter. The family — Gutierrez, her husband and their 9 and 12-year-old daughters — already had an older male poodle, as well as a younger male Belgian Malinois that they hoped Saint would play with.
As she walked with Saint out of the shelter, Gutierrez recalls telling her “You are free, no more doggie jail,” at which point Saint surprised her by getting up on her hind legs and kissing her.
“It is one of my lasting memories of her,” Gutierrez said. “She looked up at me and gave me a hug and I could feel the squeeze.”
“She was so sweet,” the mother added. “Your typical puppy. All she wanted was cuddles all the time.”
Despite their efforts to introduce Saint to their other Belgian Malinois outside the home — to avoid territorial feelings — the two dogs didn’t initially get along. So Gutierrez and her husband decided to look into a dog trainer for Saint.
The couple found Sit — who ran “Happy K9 Academy” and other dog training companies — online, and were impressed by the glowing reviews of his work and his active social media presence. Even a single negative review would have been a red flag, Gutierrez said.
Sit came out to their home, and Gutierrez said she was impressed at how he interacted with Saint.
“This devil was very, very, very convincing,” Gutierrez said. “Within five minutes he is getting her to sit. We would sit there for 20 minutes and she wouldn’t listen. She is sitting there looking up at him and wagging her tail.”
At Sit’s suggestion, Gutierrez agreed to let him take Saint and immediately begin what he suggested would be a three-week training program. At first, the family was impressed with the daily, 20-minute training videos of Sit’s work with Saint, which appeared to show regular progress. But, Gutierrez said she was startled when she ran across one video Sit had posted online where he first “shushed” some barking dogs and then appeared to angrily tell them to “shut up.”
“I couldn’t believe that got posted,” Gutierrez said. “You have the power to edit and you say ‘Shut Up!’”
By last weekend, Gutierrez had the feeling, watching the videos of Saint, that she was “regressing” in the training. She wondered if Saint was tired after more than a week of training.
Then, on Wednesday, Gutierrez received a text from her husband, warning her that “I have bad news and it is going to ruin your day.” Sit had texted “I’m so sorry to let you know, Saint passed away peacefully during the night while resting. There were no signs of pain or struggle and it was truly unexpected.”
Saint had gotten a clean bill of health when the family adopted her, Gutierrez said.
“At first I was in complete shock,” Gutierrez said. “I thought it was a joke, that he was kidding, that he had the wrong dog.”
The family was angered when Sit told them he had “lovingly cremated” Saint, despite not asking them beforehand.
“I’m in shock, I’m pissed, I’m angry, I’m seeing red,” Gutierrez said of a phone call she had with Sit. “This man had the nerve to fake cry. I said ‘What did you do to my dog?” He says ‘I don’t know, I don’t know, she was just sleeping.’”
Gutierrez reached out to animal control, and began to reach out to other families who had paid Sit through Venmo, suggesting they get their dogs. She received a call back from Irvine police, who informed her of the investigation and that they had managed to prevent Saint from being cremated.
Kyle Oldoerp, an Irvine Police Departments spokesman, said investigators have to determine “Was this an accident and they all died at the same time or did something else take place.”
Even if it was an accident, police say, Sit and his girlfriend could still face criminal charges if they acted negligently.
“At the end of the day, he is responsible for the care and well-being of these animals,” Oldoerp said. “The fact that 10 (dogs) died under his care is very troubling and suspicious… These families trusted this man to take care of their pets, their lived ones, and their pets aren’t coming home.”
Gutierrez said having to tell her daughters what had happened — knowing that otherwise they could hear it elsewhere — caused “My heart to just break into pieces all over again…
“Who else are they going to hurt?” the mother asked of Sit and Liu. “How many more families, more children are going to cry and not sleep at night?”
Police said anyone with information helpful to investigators looking into the dog deaths can email rsteen@cityofirvine.org
