Irvine dog trainer and his girlfriend charged after 11 dogs died in their care, DA's office says

IRVINE, Calif. (KABC) -- An Irvine dog trainer and his girlfriend have been arrested and charged after 11 dogs died while in their care, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

In addition to the deaths of at least 11 dogs, they're accused of destroying evidence by impersonating the dogs' owners to have the bodies cremated in an attempt to conceal how the dogs died, the DA's office said.

Kwong (Tony) Chun Sit, 53, of Irvine, and his girlfriend, Tingfeng Liu, 23, of Vista, were arrested on Thursday and are currently being held in lieu of $550,000 bail each.

Sit, who allegedly operated Happy K9 Academy, is 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, the DA's office announced. If convicted, he faces a maximum prison sentence of 13 years and 11 months.

Liu is 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. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison.

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

All but one of the dogs were dropped off at crematoriums on June 18, 2025, the DA's office said. The body of the first dog was dropped off on June 13, 2025.

On Wednesday at 5:25 p.m., the Irvine Police Department was contacted by a pet owner who reported that they had received a message from their dog trainer saying their dog had died in its sleep and had been cremated, police said.

The department's Animal Services Unit and patrol officers immediately began investigating the circumstances, and in the initial stages, it was determined that at least 10 dogs had died in the trainer's care, IPD said.

IPD quickly recovered multiple dogs at different crematoriums.

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

City News Service contributed to this report.