VAN NUYS : Dog Owner Receives 4-Month Jail Term

A man accused of mistreating dogs so badly that some had to be euthanized was sentenced to four months in jail for violating a court order banning him from owning dogs, prosecutors said Wednesday.

At a sentencing hearing Tuesday, a Van Nuys Municipal Court judge ordered William Long, 62, to begin serving his term immediately for his second probation violation in a 1989 case.

Deputy City Atty. Don Cocek said Long was arrested last week after leading animal control officers on a chase from North Hollywood to Glendale. When officers opened up his truck, they found eight dogs, some crammed into cages. One of them had to be euthanized.

Long has been banned from dog ownership since 1989 when he was convicted of keeping 13 dogs under inhumane conditions on a vacant lot in Chatsworth and put on probation. In April, 1992, he was sentenced to community service for keeping dogs on buses in La Tuna Canyon.

“He really does love dogs,” Cocek said. “He doesn’t mean to mistreat them. He just thinks he can do a better job of treating sick and injured animals than anybody else. But he doesn’t have any veterinary skills and he ends up causing them more suffering.”