California dog trainer gets 11 years for deaths in hot van

A Southern California dog trainer was sentenced Friday to 11 years and 10 months in prison after 11 dogs died in a hot van tied to his Irvine business. Kwong “Tony” Chun Sit, 54, was convicted of 11 felony counts of animal cruelty and misdemeanor evidence-destruction charges, and his girlfriend, Tingfeng Liu, 24, received three years for helping cover up the deaths.

The dogs were confined in small crates inside a hot van in June 2025 when they died of heat stroke. One dog, Rosie, a sheep dog poodle puppy, also suffered blunt force trauma, and eight dogs died of heat stroke while two others were cremated before a cause of death could be determined. The first body was dropped off on June 12, 2025, setting off a trail of crematorium visits.

Sit and Liu impersonated the pets’ owners to cremate the dogs’ bodies and dropped the remains at different crematoriums. One owner received a text on June 18, 2025, falsely saying a dog named Miko had died peacefully in its sleep and already had been cremated. The owner contacted Irvine police, triggering the police investigation.

Sit and Liu had been held on $550,000 bail after prosecutors accused them of being packed and ready to flee when arrested in June 2025. The case centered on Happy K9 Academy, which advertised one- to four-week boarded-dog training and behavioral services priced from $999 to $3,399, with daily videos sent to owners. Families turned over pets for care and instead got deception, cremation receipts and, in one case, the loss of a dog that had been a Christmas present for an 8-year-old child.

After sentencing, one victim said, “I don’t think 11 years is enough.”