Santa Paula man pleads guilty to animal cruelty
A Santa Paula man who attacked a sick California sea lion in Ventura on March 4 pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty charges on June 16.
Investigators said a woman walking her dog on the beach near the Ventura Promenade reported a sea lion stuck on nearby rocks and apparently affected by domoic acid poisoning. Ventura Police Department dispatchers pointed a surveillance camera at the stricken sea lion and watched Christopher Hurtado, 32, kick the animal in the head. The suspect then hit the sea lion in the body with a four-foot-long piece of driftwood two times after raising the weapon above his head. Rescuers with Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute later euthanized the animal…