The Region - News from April 4, 1986

A West Los Angeles woman pleaded guilty to nine misdemeanor counts involving a fraudulent home-finding service for unwanted dogs and cats. Margarita Sorzano, 58, had been accused of charging between $20 and $50 to pet owners who could no longer care for their pets and believed Sorzano would find them new homes. Instead, prosecutors said, Sorzano dumped the animals in nearby parks as soon as she had picked them up. Charges were filed after a “sting” operation by members of an animal protection organization, who hired a private investigator in an attempt to catch Sorzano in the act of abandoning the pets. She is scheduled to be sentenced in Whittier Municipal Court on May 15.