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Zack Keithy, our author, is a certified veterinarian technician (UC Blue Ash) for over 6 years (contact him here). The articles written here are based on his expertise and experience, combined with a review by our expert vet reviewers including Dr M. Tarantino. Learn more about us here.
A 31-year-old woman pleaded guilty Monday, September 21, 2026, to a misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals for throwing a dog over the 8-foot fence of a veterinary clinic in Anaheim. Tyler Nashae Thompson was immediately ordered to complete 80 hours of community service as part of her sentence, according to prosecutors.
As part of the plea deal, a felony count of cruelty to animals was dismissed along with a misdemeanor count of destroying evidence. Thompson was also sentenced to 60 days in jail, but that sentence will remain suspended as long as she completes two years of probation.
Prosecutors said Thompson hurled a plastic bag containing the dog over the fence of the clinic near the 1700 block of Glenoaks Avenue just before 1:40 a.m. on Nov. 12. The clinic’s director arrived for work around 6:30 a.m. and found a malnourished, flea-infested poodle that was missing a tooth.
Dr. Ash Hakhamian, the clinic’s director, said the dog sustained injuries to his face after landing on the pavement. “He face-planted,” Hakhamian told ABC7. “That’s what broke his fall, was his face.” Hakhamian added that the dog’s mental trauma went beyond his physical injuries: “I can’t find words to describe why anybody would do something like that, and it’s hard to find the right words. I mean, thrown is an understatement.”
According to the clinic, the dog has been receiving around-the-clock care to recover from both his injuries and his ongoing medical needs.
My thoughts: What’s hard to get past here is that surveillance video exists showing exactly what happened, and it still ended in a misdemeanor plea and a suspended jail sentence. The clinic’s director put it plainly: the dog broke his own fall with his face. That’s the kind of detail that makes the outcome feel out of step with what the video actually shows. Community service and probation may be what the legal process allows for in a case like this, but for a dog left malnourished, injured, and traumatized, it’s worth sitting with the gap between what happened and what the consequence ended up being.
Source: MyNewsLA.com, with additional reporting from ABC7
