Man arrested in connection with Pasadena's worst-ever animal cruelty case

PASADENA - In what local Humane Society officers called the worst case of animal abuse they've ever seen, a 40-year-old Pasadena man was booked Wednesday on suspicion of repeatedly beating a muzzled German shepherd while it was lashed to a fence.

Jung Song was arrested at his home on suspicion of felony animal cruelty in connection with the brutal attack on the 14-month-old dog, which was caught on videotape, officials said.

Song is due in court today for an arraignment. He was being held on $40,000 bail at the Pasadena City Jail, according to Pasadena police. The beating was captured by a security camera the dog's owner mounted outside his home, said Ricky Whitman, Pasadena Humane Society spokeswoman, who viewed it. Attempts to reach the dog's owner Wednesday were unsuccessful.

"This is the worst animal cruelty case we have ever seen," Whitman said. "We have seen dogs hit with baseball bats in a moment of fury, but this was worse."

In the video, the suspect is seen scaling the back of his neighbor's home in the 1900 block of Navarro Avenue in Pasadena on April 20, shooting the shepherd with a pellet gun and beating it while it was leashed to a fence and muzzled, according to Whitman's description.