The man who tried to sneak 55 live turtles and tortoises packed in snack food boxes into the U.S. via Los Angeles International Airport last year will now get to pack himself into a federal prison cell. more ›

Celebrity butcher Dario Cecchini was in town at Mozza for a beef butchery demonstration, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals thought the demo was the perfect opportunity to bring the message of veganism to the masses. more ›

When HBO shut down production of the show "Luck" after three horses died on the set, it brought new attention to an old problem: how common the animals' deaths are at the racetrack. more ›

Elephant rides at the Orange County Fair are now a thing of the past thanks to a vote by the fair's board this afternoon. The board voted 7-1 to end its contract with the company with Have Trunk Will Travel, which offered elephant rides at the fair in Costa Mesa. more ›

The severed heads of two dogs were found inside a dumpster in South Los Angeles yesterday. Today police are asking for the public's help to try to understand what happened to the dogs, and they're offering a $5,000 reward for more information about the dogs more ›

A teenage boy who admitted he beat three kittens to death with a baseball bat and dumped the bodies in the trash could face criminal charges, however authorities caution today that the investigation is likely to take some time. more ›

A 16-year-old boy in Hacienda Heights admitted to a horrible act of animal cruelty: bashing the skulls of three kittens with a baseball bat before tossing them out in the garbage. The boy confessed to the kitten killings to a staff member at Wilson High School. more ›

A Kern County man is facing charges after being accused of killing stray cats in his neighborhood and eating them. This week residents in Oildale (an area just outside Bakersfield) heard suspicious noises coming from the home of Jason Wilmert. more ›

The golf club-wielding Menifee man responsible for the brutal death of a neighbor's dog has been charged with one felony count of animal cruelty, the district attorney's office announced Tuesday. Larry Edward Jaurequi, 58, allegedly struck Lily, a 6-pound Chihuahua, with his golf club January 26. more ›

In the market for a Chihuahua? On Tuesday morning, a male Chihuahua puppy, aged presumably just a few weeks, was discovered crying at the bottom of a trash bin at a gas station in Colton. The pup has since been rescued and temporarily adopted, but the current caretakers are searching for a permanent home for their new addition. more ›

Hearts for Hounds founder Bonnie Sheehan and associate Pamela A. King-McCracken appeared in court Tuesday on charges of animal cruelty. The women have agreed to hand over custody of all animals and have posted bail. more ›

The operator of a Long Beach animal rescue group has been arrested and charged with 128 counts of aggravated animal cruelty. Hearts for Hounds founder Bonnie Sheehan, 55, and Pamela A. King-McCracken were stopped by the West Tennessee Drug Task Force during a traffic stop. more ›

For methamphetamine user Robert Edward De Shields, one side effect of the drug is apparently the strong desire to sexually abuse animals. The Sacramento parolee was sentenced this week to 10 years in state prison for his appalling treatment of an 8-month-old chihuahua. more ›

An Orange County family has been charged with a handful of felony counts, including animal cruelty, stemming from evidence they hoarded 110 cats inside a filthy, stinky home that was unsafe for its occupants, including two young girls. more ›

John Levin, 47, was found guilty last month of murdering his wife Michelle and microwaving his Pomeranian to death, and yesterday he was sentenced to 16 years in prison, plus parole for life after release, according to the Glendale News-Press. more ›

Currently awaiting signature on Governor Brown's desk sits Senate Bill 917. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA) encourages citizens to contact Governor Brown in support of this bill. Bill 917 would make the punishments for those convicted of animal neglect on par with those issued for intentional animal cruelty. Neglected animals suffer from a lack of life's basic needs: shelter, food, water and veterinary care. more ›

Authorities are asking the public for help in an animal cruelty investigation after gruesome discoveries of the remains of four cats at El Monte's Rio Vista Park (map). All of the animals had been duct taped and tortured in a similar fashion, leading El Monte police to believe there may be a serial cat torturer at large. more ›

A dog-fighting training center, complete with surgical equipment, treadmills, a portable fighting ring with dried blood on the posts and more than a dozen pit bulls was shut down by L.A. County sheriffs deputies in the Antelope Valley Wednesday. L.A. Sheriff's deputies coordinated the raid over the past month, based on an anonymous tip left on the county's 24-hour Dog Fighting Hotline. more ›

Former Beverly Hills Mayor Charlotte Spadaro "was found guilty of one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty by a San Bernardino County jury Thursday, nearly six years after the charges were brought," according to the Press-Enterprise. more ›

It always starts with a suspicious smell: A 57-year-old Panorama City man was served with an animal hoarding search warrant by the Los Angeles City Animal Cruelty Task Force (ACTF) after a neighbor came forward to authorities about a troubling odor, and seeing cats enter--but not leave--the premises. more ›

UPDATE 12:28 PM: The final tally for the number of cats seized from Regan's hoard is 240, says the Star-News. There's being a "crazy cat lady," as in a fondness for LOL Cats emails, jokes about spinsterhood, and perpetual fur on clothes, and then there's being a crazy cat lady, as in keeping 140 cats in feces-soiled crates inside a storage space. more ›

Florence Handley runs a cat adoption service in Pomona, and the 81-year-old has been taking her work home with her, even when her "work" involved animals who had gone on to pet heaven. more ›

“Last night was the first night I could open my windows and enjoy my home undisturbed by the roosters,” a neighbor said to the Los Angeles City Animal Cruelty Task Force (ACTF). He lived near or on the 10400 block of Variel Avenue in Chatsworth where someone tipped the ACTF off to an alleged cockfighter. more ›

There are many ways to handle a tough break-up with a girlfriend, but torturing and injuring a little puppy isn't one of them. The Daily News reports that a 22-year old Encino man, Steven William Butcher, was arrested yesterday in the 6400 block of Bertrand Avenue for animal cruelty. more ›

Chino's Westland/Hallmark Meat Company came into the spotlight recently when secret video footage revealed staff was mistreating the animals. On the heels of this week's news that the slaughterhouse's manager could face several years in prison if charged with animal cruelty comes the news that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has recalled 143 million pounds of their frozen beef, making it "the largest beef recall in the United States," according to the Daily News. more ›

An armed intruder entered an Oxnard home yesterday afternoon -- he left without any loot, but shot the family dog on his way out! more ›

Photo by ellwoodite via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr more ›

El Segundo's DirecTV is trying to sell us on their better picture through High Definition equipment (and extra monthly service fees, natch) by making us want to see every hair in Burt Reynolds' chest? (Full screen image here) Thank you, but maybe HD is too accurate. Maybe we don't even need television anymore. Maybe we should go back to sitting around the fire and telling tall tales about giants and blue oxes. Although it's... more ›

Staff writer Tracy Manzer wrote "Police captured three youths suspected of torturing and killing two docile sharks and a ray at the Aquarium of the Pacific after they returned with another boy to the scene of the crime to carry out more mayhem late Monday, an official said. more ›