The owner-operator of a Lynwood pet store pleaded Wednesday to felony animal cruelty charges spanning a three-year period in which dogs and cats were suffocated, thrown in dumpsters and left for dead, and operated upon without anesthesia.

Deputy District Attorney Damare Theriot of the Compton office said Young Sam Park entered the pleas on the date his case was set to start trial. Sentencing was scheduled for March 14.

Park, 52, pleaded no contest to seven counts of animal cruelty and one count of animal neglect as part of a negotiated settlement of his case. He will receive a six-year state prison term when he is sentenced by Compton Superior Court Judge Judith Meyer. Remaining counts of animal cruelty, practicing veterinary medicine without a license and possession of pentobarbital are expected to be dismissed at time of sentencing.

The defendant was indicted by Los Angeles County Grand jury in June 2007. He remains free on $451,500 bail pending sentencing.

Theriot said the crimes to which Park pleaded occurred between 2004 and 2007 at the Animal House Pet Store in Lynwood. The specific felony counts involved:

• Leaving a live dog to die in a dumpster.
   
• Choking and beating a Rottweiler and leaving it in a dumpster.
   
• Throwing sick cats into a dumpster.
   
• Suffocating a Chihuahua with a rubber glove.
   
• Suffocating other dogs and cats with a rubber glove.
   
• Throwing a kitten against a 4×4 support pole.
   
• Releasing a dog onto the street after accepting payment to euthanize it.
   
• Clipping ears without using anesthesia.

The case was investigated by the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation and the county Department of Animal Care and Control. Theriot said the prosecution would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of animal control authorities.

The investigation began following complaints to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Los Angeles (SPCA-LA).