Peta Leaders Want Palisades Fire Suspect Charged With Animal Cruelty

PACIFIC PALISADES—On Wednesday, October 15, a federal grand jury indicted Jonathan Rinderknecht for starting the Pacific Palisades fire. Now, the leaders of PETA in the Los Angeles area also want him to be prosecuted by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office on charges of animal cruelty. Sarah Deffinger, who is a senior analyst in PETA’s Cruelty Investigations Department, sent a letter to Nathan Hochman, the Los Angeles District Attorney, stating that the Pacific Palisades fire harmed and terrorized both wild and domestic animals. This includes the pets of Annette Rossilli, who refused to leave her home because she did not want to leave her group of pets. She owned two parrots, a turtle, as well as a canary named Pepper, and a dog named Greetly. In addition, a cat named Aggie survived for two months on her own because her owner could not find her after the fire had destroyed the owner’s home. The West Los Angeles Animal Shelter later rescued Aggie.   By Danie Diquinzio