Santa Monica Pet Store Owner Pleads No Contest To Vet Malpractice

SANTA MONICA, CA — Marc Ching, the founder of the Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation, pleaded no contest to a charge of practicing veterinary medicine without a license, City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Tuesday. Ching, who owns a pet food store PetStaurant with locations in Sherman Oaks and Santa Monica, will serve 12 months of summary probation, the maximum allowed by the law.

He was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine plus penalty assessments, and agreed to not make false statements such as pet food being "organic" without the proper certifications.

“Just as you wouldn’t want an unlicensed doctor providing medical treatment to you or a loved one, the unlicensed practice of veterinary medicine is just as serious an issue for our beloved animals. It is a matter of health and safety,” said Feuer.

An undercover operation, requested by the California Veterinary Medical Board and conducted by the Department of Consumer Affairs Division of Investigation, revealed that Ching was practicing veterinary medicine without a license. According to Feuer, Ching not only diagnosed ailments, but also prescribed treatments without the necessary license.

The Petstaurant website also contained false statements including unproven instructions on how to treat various undiagnosed pet ailments such as skin dermatitis and ear infections, Feuer added.

In another Los Angeles Times investigation, Indonesian butchers accused Ching of paying them to torture and brutally murder several dogs, which Ching used as footage in campaigns against dog abuse. Ching called the tragic killings "day to day" routines at the slaughterhouses, although local Indonesian animal rights activists said they'd never heard of dogs being treated as poorly as they were in the video.

Ching previously denied the accusations in a lengthy essay published on the Animal Hope & Wellness Foundation's website.

"It is hurtful to know that after all I have done - the 18 trips I took to Asia and everything I did - that people accuse me of staging videos and torture. While I was by no means perfect because I am human - I did everything I did to make a difference," he said. "With the hope that in the end, we could change things. I believe we did that. We were essential in bringing any reform that has been seen in the Dog and Cat Meat Trade to fruition. Essential in raising awareness. And our work, along with the work of many other groups, has changed lives for the better."

Ching was charged with several misdemeanors in November 2020, including false advertising of food products, processing, packing and preparing meat products without a license, and selling adulterated and misbranded food.