Video allegedly showing DreamWorks animator beating dog with hammer horrifies officials

A video purporting to show a 40-year-old DreamWorks animator beating a neighbor’s muzzled dog with a hammer horrified Humane Society officials, who said they've seen nothing like it.

“When our officers first viewed the videotape, one of our officers had tears in his eyes. He’d never seen anything like this before,” said Steve McNall, who heads the Pasadena Humane Society and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “In my 31 years at this animal shelter I’ve never seen anything like this.”

McNall’s agency, which is licensed to investigate crimes involving animals, is conducting the probe and made the arrest in conjunction with Pasadena police.

The suspect, Young Song, pleaded not guilty in court Thursday and faces a preliminary hearing next month. He allegedly climbed a fence into a yard in the 1900 block of Navarro Avenue in Pasadena, where a 16-month-old German shepherd was muzzled but untied. Surveillance camera video shows the beating but does not reveal what Song did with the dog, which is missing and presumed dead.

According to authorities, the suspect shot the dog with a pellet gun, then returned with a hammer and began chasing and striking the defenseless animal until it lay senseless.

Industry sites identify Young as a "surfacer," an artisan who creates the look and surface qualities for animated characters, props and environments. Young's credits on animal-themed films include "Kung Fu Panda," "Shark Tale," "Bee Movie" and "Madagascar 2."

The dog’s owner returned to a bloody scene and discovered that his dog was missing. The events were recorded on a newly installed security camera.

The motive for the attack is not clear, although there was a hole at the bottom of the fence adjoining the two yards, meaning that the dog could have been entering the suspect’s property.

“It might have originated as a barking issue, a noise issue, and then escalated into something else,” McNall added.

Song was being held on $40,500 bail, according to authorities.

The formal charges are one felony count of cruelty to an animal and one misdemeanor count of petty theft of a dog with a special allegation of personal use of a deadly weapon, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Alison Matsumoto. If convicted, Song could face more than four years in prison, the district attorney’s office said.

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