Animator who worked on children's movies accused of brutally beating, shooting a puppy 
 
 Matthew Roberts for News A German Shepherd puppy, like the one above, was allegedly brutally beaten with a hammer. 
 
 LOS ANGELES - A southern California DreamWorks animator is accused of beating a puppy with a hammer so badly that Humane Society workers are calling it one of the worst cases of animal abuse they've ever seen. 
 
 Young Song, 40, of Pasadena, appeared in court Thursday and pleaded not guilty to felony animal cruelty, but authorities say they have surveillance video of the heinous crime. 
 
 They claim Song scaled a fence into a neighbor's backyard April 20 and chased and beat a muzzled 1-year-old German shepherd to a bloody, motionless pulp. 
 
 Song also allegedly shot the defenseless animal with a pellet gun. 
 
 "It's extremely shocking and heartbreaking," Hillary Gatlin, a community relations associate with the Pasadena Humane Society told the Daily News. 
 
 "It's one of the worst cases we've ever seen. We're all very upset. It's been a long, sad day," she said. 
 
 The Humane Society is investigating the crime with local police. 
 
 "We believe it was an ongoing dispute between the neighbors, but we don't know what brought it to this point," Gatlin said. 
 
 The dog is now missing and presumed dead. 
 
 Song, whose credits include "Kung Fu Panda" and "Madagascar 2," was also charged with theft of the animal. 
 
 If convicted, he could face several years in state prison. 
 
 ndillon@nydailynews.com ||||| A 40-year-old DreamWorks animator pleaded not guilty Thursday to beating a neighbor’s muzzled dog with a hammer, an incident that was captured on video. 
 
 The man, Young Song, allegedly climbed the 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, Young 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". 
 
 “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.”
– An animator who helped bring lovable creatures to life in movies like Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar 2 has been arrested for what Humane Society workers describe as one of the worst cases of animal abuse they've ever seen. DreamWorks employee Young Song is accused of shooting his neighbor's muzzled German Shepherd puppy with a pellet gun and then beating it to death with a hammer, reports the New York Daily News. Song has pleaded not guilty to a felony count of animal cruelty that carries up to four years in jail, though the incident was captured on surveillance video. "When our officers first viewed the videotape, one of our officers had tears in his eyes. He'd never seen anything like this before," the head of the Pasadena Humane Society tells the Los Angeles Times. "In my 31 years at this animal shelter I've never seen anything like this."