Paw Works defendant pleads guilty in 2022 theft of rescue dog that died

Staff reports
Updated ·1 min read
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Security footage shows Miles Berry stealing rescue dog Pretty Girl from the Paw Works facility in Camarillo in June 2022, hours before the dog died after getting struck on Highway 101. Berry pleaded guilty to two felony charges last week.
Security footage shows Miles Berry stealing rescue dog Pretty Girl from the Paw Works facility in Camarillo in June 2022, hours before the dog died after getting struck on Highway 101. Berry pleaded guilty to two felony charges last week.

The man accused of stealing a rescue dog that died last year after being taken from the Paw Works Animal Rescue's former Camarillo facility has pleaded guilty to two felony counts.

Miles Berry, 34, had previously pleaded not guilty to four counts. In a plea agreement heard Nov. 9 in Ventura County Superior Court, Berry withdrew earlier pleas to admit guilt on two charges: commercial burglary over $950 and cruelty to an animal.

Two other counts, a felony grand theft charge and a misdemeanor prowling offense, will be dismissed when Berry is sentenced on Dec. 13, said Joey Buttitta, spokesman for the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

During last week's hearing, Berry also admitted to special allegations that the crime involved great violence.

Pretty Girl, a 3-year-old rescue dog, was stolen from Paw Works' former shelter in Camarillo in June 2022, when she died after being found with severe injuries on the side of Highway 101. A Newbury Park man has pleaded guilty to two felony counts, including animal cruelty.
Pretty Girl, a 3-year-old rescue dog, was stolen from Paw Works' former shelter in Camarillo in June 2022, when she died after being found with severe injuries on the side of Highway 101. A Newbury Park man has pleaded guilty to two felony counts, including animal cruelty.

On June 9, 2022, the Newbury Park man broke into the former Paw Works shelter on Pleasant Valley road and stole a 3-year-old German shepherd named Pretty Girl. The rescue dog died hours later when she was found along Highway 101 in Newbury Park, where she had been apparently hit by a car.

A good Samaritan rushed the dog to the Paw Works Veterinary Hospital in Thousand Oaks, but the animal died at the hospital.

The incident was caught on surveillance video. Berry was arrested in September last year, when he initially pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Paw Works has subsequently moved to a larger facility outside Camarillo. The nonprofit group's co-founder, Chad Atkins, died unexpectedly at 44, of heart failure, in December, when remaining staff vowed to carry on. Paw Works rescues dogs and cats from high-kill facilities throughout the state.

The sentencing hearing for Berry is scheduled for the morning of Dec. 13 in courtroom 11.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Paw Works defendant pleads guilty in theft of rescue dog that died