Animal Thefts Los Angeles

A police chief's teen-age son has been charged with stealing a day-old foal worth at least $20,000. Richard Anthony Rivetti, 18, the son of San Fernando Police Chief Dominick Rivetti, told investigators he sold the foal for $150 so he could buy his girlfriend a gift, authorities said Monday. The youth, who lives in Canyon Country, faces up to three years in state prison if convicted of felony grand theft in the May 19 incident.

Police were searching Sunday for a man who attacked a 58-year-old blind woman in an apartment complex elevator and stole her guide dog. The incident occurred about 11:30 p.m. Saturday at a building in the 15200 block of Sherman Way. Police said the man got into an elevator with the woman and her dog, a black Labrador valued at $4,500. "When the doors opened to the floor they were headed to, the suspect grabbed the dog's leash and said, 'C'mon dog,' " said Los Angeles Police Officer Mike Partain.

If Long Beach resident Bob Levy sounds a tad defensive, it is with good reason: for 11 years his family loved and cared for Stripey, a Maine coon cat who they believe was stolen last weekend by a woman who described herself as an animal rights activist. "From Day One she's always been a scruffy-looking kitty," Levy said, referring to standard attributes of the unusual breed. "She's always been thin." But, he says, that's no reason for some stranger to snatch her.

Two Valley owners of English bulldogs who said their pets were stolen last week fear that the animals, normally docile but known for their extremely powerful jaws, are being snatched to cross-breed with pit bulls to produce fighting dogs. Both Amanda Heredia of Van Nuys and Jim Walsh of Sylmar were scouring a Van Nuys neighborhood Tuesday where one of the dogs disappeared and another was last seen.

Police were searching Sunday for a man who attacked a 58-year-old blind woman in an apartment complex elevator and stole her guide dog. The incident occurred about 11:30 p.m. Saturday at a building in the 15200 block of Sherman Way. Police said the man got into an elevator with the woman and her dog, a black Labrador valued at $4,500. "When the doors opened to the floor they were headed to, the suspect grabbed the dog's leash and said, 'C'mon dog,' " said Los Angeles Police Officer Mike Partain.

Two Valley owners of English bulldogs who said their pets were stolen last week fear that the animals, normally docile but known for their extremely powerful jaws, are being snatched to cross-breed with pit bulls to produce fighting dogs. Both Amanda Heredia of Van Nuys and Jim Walsh of Sylmar were scouring a Van Nuys neighborhood Tuesday where one of the dogs disappeared and another was last seen.

Call in Ace Ventura, pet detective. Officers in Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division are investigating a series of dognapings that have plagued Venice and surrounding areas. As many as four pedigreed dogs may have been stolen in August, with several other canines the possible victims of thieves in previous weeks, said Detective Bob Jakucs. Jakucs said the unusually high number of animal thefts may be the work of one or two people who are targeting expensive, purebred dogs.

Calling her the "personification of evil," a San Fernando Superior Court judge Wednesday sentenced a former Sun Valley kennel operator to nearly six years in prison for tricking dog and cat owners into giving away their pets, then selling the animals for medical research. Judge David M.

The pall in the Heredia household was heavy enough these past two weeks, after thieves apparently climbed a block wall and made away with Zach, an 8-month-old English bulldog. To console her 4-year-old son, Amanda Heredia had promised to get Zach back. Instead, bad luck turned to worse when dognapers, perhaps the same ones, pried through the back door of the home in the 5800 block of Noble Avenue to get Bugsy, Huera and Piglet, the Heredias' other three pups.

Zach and Bugsy were safely back home Thursday night. But the whereabouts of Huera and Piglet--the other two English bulldog pups stolen from a Van Nuys family earlier this month--were still unknown. "Whoever stole them I guess had a change of heart," Amanda Heredia, owner of the dogs, said about the robbers who returned the four puppies to a Pacoima park. Two were found there and the other two apparently were stolen again. On Dec.

Zach and Bugsy were safely back home Thursday night. But the whereabouts of Huera and Piglet--the other two English bulldog pups stolen from a Van Nuys family earlier this month--were still unknown. "Whoever stole them I guess had a change of heart," Amanda Heredia, owner of the dogs, said about the robbers who returned the four puppies to a Pacoima park. Two were found there and the other two apparently were stolen again. On Dec.

The pall in the Heredia household was heavy enough these past two weeks, after thieves apparently climbed a block wall and made away with Zach, an 8-month-old English bulldog. To console her 4-year-old son, Amanda Heredia had promised to get Zach back. Instead, bad luck turned to worse when dognapers, perhaps the same ones, pried through the back door of the home in the 5800 block of Noble Avenue to get Bugsy, Huera and Piglet, the Heredias' other three pups.

If Long Beach resident Bob Levy sounds a tad defensive, it is with good reason: for 11 years his family loved and cared for Stripey, a Maine coon cat who they believe was stolen last weekend by a woman who described herself as an animal rights activist. "From Day One she's always been a scruffy-looking kitty," Levy said, referring to standard attributes of the unusual breed. "She's always been thin." But, he says, that's no reason for some stranger to snatch her.

Call in Ace Ventura, pet detective. Officers in Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division are investigating a series of dognapings that have plagued Venice and surrounding areas. As many as four pedigreed dogs may have been stolen in August, with several other canines the possible victims of thieves in previous weeks, said Detective Bob Jakucs. Jakucs said the unusually high number of animal thefts may be the work of one or two people who are targeting expensive, purebred dogs.

A police chief's teen-age son has been charged with stealing a day-old foal worth at least $20,000. Richard Anthony Rivetti, 18, the son of San Fernando Police Chief Dominick Rivetti, told investigators he sold the foal for $150 so he could buy his girlfriend a gift, authorities said Monday. The youth, who lives in Canyon Country, faces up to three years in state prison if convicted of felony grand theft in the May 19 incident.

Calling her the "personification of evil," a San Fernando Superior Court judge Wednesday sentenced a former Sun Valley kennel operator to nearly six years in prison for tricking dog and cat owners into giving away their pets, then selling the animals for medical research. Judge David M.