Target: Nathan Hochman, District Attorney of Los Angeles County, California
Goal: Prosecute to the fullest extent of the law the individual charged with felony animal cruelty after surveillance video apparently captured him dragging a nine-year-old German Shepherd named Leo behind a truck.
Surveillance video reportedly captured a man dragging a nine-year-old German Shepherd named Leo behind a truck near a business in Whittier, California — an act that resulted in a felony animal cruelty charge. The incident was investigated by the Whittier Police Department and prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office as part of a broader effort to intensify animal cruelty prosecutions in the county. The accused has pleaded not guilty and faces up to three years in county jail if convicted.
Dragging a living animal behind a moving vehicle is not an act of carelessness or negligence — it is an act of deliberate and sustained cruelty that inflicts terror, pain, and injury on a defenseless creature who has no means of escape. Leo, a nine-year-old dog, was reportedly subjected to exactly this. The fact that the act was captured on surveillance video means there is documentary evidence, and the District Attorney’s Office must use that evidence to its fullest effect in pursuit of conviction and meaningful sentencing.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney has publicly committed to treating animal cruelty with zero tolerance and aggressive prosecution. That commitment must be honored in Leo’s case. Sign this petition to demand the maximum available prosecution and sentencing for the individual allegedly responsible for this act of deliberate cruelty against a nine-year-old dog.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear DA Hochman,
We are writing to urge your office to pursue the maximum penalties available under California law against the individual charged with felony animal cruelty after surveillance video seemingly captured him dragging a nine-year-old German Shepherd named Leo behind a truck near a business in Whittier. The Whittier Police Department investigated the case, and your office has charged the accused with one felony count of cruelty to an animal, carrying a maximum sentence of up to three years in county jail.
Your office has publicly committed to treating animal cruelty cases with zero tolerance and aggressive prosecution, and has stated that animal cruelty is a “red flag for possible future violence” that warrants serious legal consequences. We urge you to honor that commitment in Leo’s case by pursuing conviction and the maximum available sentencing. The surveillance footage that captured this apparent act provides the evidentiary foundation for a strong prosecution, and the nine-year-old dog who was allegedly dragged behind a truck deserves to have that evidence used to its fullest effect.
We respectfully but firmly demand that your office pursue conviction and the maximum available sentencing in this case. Leo — a nine-year-old dog allegedly dragged behind a vehicle in what surveillance footage reportedly documented — had no means of escape or defense. It is now the justice system’s responsibility to speak for him.
Sincerely,
]Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Katarzyna Modrzejewska
