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. 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. 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. 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. Surveillance camera video shows the beating but does not reveal what Song did with the dog, which is missing and presumed dead. Young's credits on animal-themed films include "Kung Fu Panda," "Shark Tale," "Bee Movie" and "Madagascar 2".
– 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."