A San Francisco man is accused of starving a dog to death and leaving its body on a Pacifica beach.
Kun Sun has been arrested and charged with felony animal cruelty. The 26-year-old plead not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. Sun was ordered to report to court twice a week and is now unable to own or possess any animals.
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said it will be tough to get a felony conviction on animal cruelty charges, but feels confident he has enough evidence in this case to show deliberate cruelty over a period of time.
The dog, a Bichon Frisé named Penny, was found inside a shoe box. Investigators said Penny's body showed signs of emaciation, overgrown nails and matted hair. In addition, investigators said there was evidence Penny was kept in a confined space.
"When our veterinarians did a necropsy the dog had virtually no body fat," said Christina Hanley, lead investigator for the Peninsula Humane Society. "We sent the bone marrow in for testing and bone marrow fat levels should be over 60 percent for normal biological processes. It was 1.2 percent, meaning the dog had been completely starved for some period of time."
The Peninsula Humane Society was able to track down the animal's owner through dog's microchip. The owner now lives in China. She told investigators she left the dog with a friend — later identified as Sun — six months earlier.
