Steven Seagal And Maricopa County Sued For Killing Puppy While Filming Reality TV Show In Arizona

Look out Steven Seagal! A Phoenix man is out for justice, suing the action film star and the Maricopa County sheriff's department for killing his puppy during the taping of a reality TV show.

The unlucky dog was marked for death while cameras taped a raid on Jesus Sanchez Llovera's home in March by sheriff's deputies and camouflage-clad Seagal, who rode in a tank for an episode of "Steven Seagal: Lawman", TMZ reported.

Llovera's 11-month-old hound wasn't hard to kill. The lawsuit said that the dog was shot while the police and Seagal overtook his home in a hunt for an alleged illegal cockfighting ring, The Associated Press repored.

Anyone who saw the bust could have thought that Llovera was under siege. Deputies in armored cars blew out his windows and knocked down the gate outside his property, according to The Wrap. More than 100 hens and roosters were on deadly ground that day and were euthanized, The Wrap said.

"Animal cruelty is one of my pet peeves," Seagal told TV station ABC-15.

Did the martial arts fanatic and Dalai Lama supporter act like he was above the law? Llovera apparently thinks so. He wants $25,000 for emotional distress, humiliation and property damage, The Arizona Republic said. He's demanding a written apology from Arpaio too, the newspaper said.

See Seagal in action:

Comments

[John Di Saia]

05:19 PM on 10/22/2011

This guy wants $25000 for emotional distress? Give him a few hundred bucks for a new shrink. Geez!

[builder7]

01:28 PM on 09/06/2011

I understand that he ran over about 50 chickens too! This man is a menace to society, along with Joe Arpaio. About the only thing that he is capable of fighting in real life are chickens and little animals or trying to bully people around! I understand that he is a one of those old time redneck cops in the New Orleans area. Now he is known for running over little animals with a tank!

[Guy Sase]

09:01 AM on 09/06/2011

the problem i have is that seagal says he hates cruelty to animals which i completely agree with
so why were the birds he was trying to save , euthanized?

[allerleirauh]

05:42 PM on 09/05/2011

Well... Llovera says he's a simple chicken farmer and not a cockfighter. But chickens come from eggs, which are laid by hens, not roosters, and all the birds on the property were roosters. I think the circumstantial evidence is pretty strong there.

What I don't understand is the need to euthanize all the birds. Preventing animal cruelty by killing all the animals doesn't make a lot of sense. From my own experiences with animal rescue and law enforcement, I'm assuming it happened because the city didn't want to deal with the trouble and expense of rescue.

[RedTex83]

06:30 PM on 09/07/2011

The cruelty is in how they die, not necessarily that they die. If it is by euthenisation from a shot, their is no pain for them. It's better than the possible death they would have faced without the raid. Plus, Maricopa county would be responsible for housing and taking care of the roosters until they could find someone who would be will to take 100 roosters. Not a lot of people out there willing to take 100 plus roosters

[Heidi McClure]

06:15 PM on 09/04/2011

There wouldn't be so much confusion as to the "actual" story if someone had just written about it without trying to cram in as many bad plays on Seagal movie titles as possible.

[movintoEurope]

08:22 PM on 09/02/2011

I suppose I'm biased since I don't eat meat, but shouldn't people who torture animals be subject to the same measure of cruel and unusual punishment. For instance, last year when Michael Vick was injured and went on the disabled list, shouldn't he also have been "put down" by the Humane Society?

[bbhuey4213]

10:30 AM on 09/02/2011

When I first heard this story it was claimed that Seagal's tank either ran over or into one of the buildings housing the birds and that over 100 of the chickens and the dog were killed in that way; this story claims that the dog was shot and that the birds were euthanized (but doesn't specify why), and by the time the news crew was there all the action was over so whatever was filmed during the raid is in the hands of people who will certainly not release any footage that makes their star look bad. Now, as incredible as it seems, it IS possible to criticize Seagal WITHOUT being a supporter of cockfighting: he doesn't have to have pulled the trigger to have some responsibility for the dog's death since they were there for the primary purpose of filming his television show. If he had been there solely as a member of a "volunteer posse" as Arpaio claims there would have been no production crew filming the whole thing for Seagal to make money off of later.

[RedTex83]

06:40 PM on 09/07/2011

What does the film crew have to do with the dog dying? So if the film crew wasnt there then the dog would have lived? They were there to bust an animal fighting ring, not just to shoot a TV show. If Seagal was "volunteer posse" member, no one would have ever heard about the dog dying. Im not defending or accusing, because I dont know all the facts, just like everyone else on this blog, but the criminal is only suing over the dog because it was Steven Seagal who busted him and he knows Seagal has the money and those types of accusations against a movie star would for sure make headlines someone, even if it is just on the Huffington Post

[dwhuston]

08:28 AM on 09/02/2011

Here is the only decent link I could find that explains some of the story.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2011/06/26/20110626cockfighting-raid-kidnapping-arrest.html

[bbhuey4213]

10:32 AM on 09/02/2011

Came back as 'page not found' on the azcentral site map page...

[Chad Wheeler]

01:01 PM on 09/02/2011

I just tried the link and it worked for me. I made it into a Tiny Url, maybe this will work for you.

http://tinyurl.com/42zwals

[Eric Graff]

06:08 AM on 09/02/2011

Drunk wife beater kills dog and people defend him bc he was in crappy movies, OK IQ level here is close to gop status.

[Disketta]

09:04 AM on 09/02/2011

Talentless drunk wife beater. He probably sat on the poor dog.

[ernhrtn3]

04:38 AM on 09/02/2011

Now taht I have re-read the srticle I appologize to the auther. They raided a mexicans house and instead of finding an active fight night he was only home alone as it does not say anyone else was arrested in fact it does not evn say he was arrested. I would think from the men and equipment they took they expected to find armed illegals and plenty of money being bet and the dog just got in the eay. hell jesus might have shot his won dog to get his drugs back and now blames it on Segal and the sherriff

[dwhuston]

08:19 AM on 09/02/2011

They were filming a TV show. Thats why all the men and equipment. From what I've seen the suspect didn't even have any priors. All they found were chickens and a dog.

[bear2right]

01:46 AM on 09/02/2011

Steven Seagal is a civilian, an actor -- he has no business joining a real-life police raid. (And riding in in a tank, no less!) Was it truly necessary to blow out the windows and knock over the gate, or was this all this a ratings grab? In other words, couldn't this raid have been more efficiently performed -- without all the damage -- by the sheriff's department alone?

Steven Seagal, please get a real acting job, and leave real law enforcement to the sheriff. I'm disappointed in Sheriff Joe Arpaio, too. I think he does a great job with his jail. I'm surprised he would involve himself in cheesy reality show like this.

[taurian]

03:36 AM on 09/02/2011

Sorry Bud, but the facts of this matter tell a different story. Steven Seagal is in fact a Police Officer with the Jefferson Parish New Orleans PD for almost 20 years now. Acting is actually a side business. He's also a friend of Sheriff Joe and visits him often, hence his presence in Maricopa County. Was he filming this bust for Television.......probably. Was the person they busted an innocent victim? I don't think so. Jesus Llovera is a con man with a criminal history who hired a sleazy lawyer who is spinning this bust as an opportunity to make a few bucks on the backs of Maricopa County taxpayers. Please don't believe everything you read, especially when this article has all the markings of a pseudo-journalistic "hit piece". You don't sound like a bad guy, just quit being so naive.......

[cmcclarty]

04:10 AM on 09/02/2011

Good post! That area has a lot of cock fighting going on and has a lot of border jumpers also. I have been there its a dump! Some forget also Ted Nugent has been with enforcement for over 20yrs also and is a federal officer to boot!

[cmcclarty]

04:51 AM on 09/02/2011

Very true so is Ted Nugent hes been an officer for 20 plus years also!

[steves1709]

12:17 AM on 09/02/2011

Hello MORONS and sensible readers... It says "the dog was shot". It DOESN'T say Seagal shot it, that officers shot it, or martians shot it. Or why. For fun? Was the dog attacking officers? Typical of most Huffpo articles, it is woefully lacking in details to support the hype headline. This lack of detail makes about 60% of these posts worthless. And, yes I do like animals.

[dwes09]

01:23 AM on 09/02/2011

It is really shocking how poorly writen the article was. And all these paople jumping on Seagal for something he probably didn't even do! No one seems to have even absorbed the fact that the guy they raided was running a cockfighting operation! It is sad that his dog was killed, but if he actually is devistated, GOOD! HE WAS MAKING A LIVING OFF OF ROOSTERS FIGHTING TO THE DEATH. HE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO HAVE A DOG (after he gets out of prison).

[White Raven]

06:55 AM on 09/02/2011

Yeah I'm wondering at some questions that the article does not answer, including the one about the dog attacking officers. They call this a puppy, but an 11-month old puppy is capable of being an animal of significant size, depending on the breed. Seems to me someone running a cockfighting ring probably wasn't keeping a chihuahua around. My money's more on a doberman or pit bull or something along those lines.

Still, Seagal shouldn't be doing these things. This article is one example of why not.

[Chad Wheeler]

01:38 PM on 09/02/2011

Most dogs at 11 months old wouldn't be attacking someone without possessing a serious temperment flaw.

[bbrandy59]

11:37 PM on 09/01/2011

its really sick to see people bash someone like seagal that has done so much good in his life and in the public helping teens,morals,reasoning,understanding human nature make one sad mistake and the garbage people say about him again really makes me sick =====get a life people have you sweep the steps lately

[dwhuston]

08:33 AM on 09/02/2011

Yes he has done a lot of good. To one of his housekeepers, his kids babysitter and knocked his wife (Kelly LeBrock) around a good bit.

You should read a little about the other things that he has done besides movies.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-04-22/gossip/27062465_1_sexual-harassment-lawsuit-inappropriate-sexual-advances-claims

[bbrandy59]

12:15 PM on 09/02/2011

yeeeeep he has done alot of good and 30 yrs is a long time ago top of it all babysitters and wifes have and long history on reporting fales and uncriminating things about there husbands and employer also spouses will push a mate to no end ====lol we all know whats really going on in many cases pushhhhhhhhh

[CrazyThisIs]

01:34 AM on 09/02/2011

Flagged for being abusive/offensive

[Let ItFly10]

10:07 PM on 09/01/2011

WHY is this man still breathing WHY?

[Sorenson]

01:56 AM on 09/02/2011

Considering that Arpaio supposedly has a fat $1 million bounty on his head from the Mexican cartels, I'm honestly surprised that someone hasn't taken him down. Then again, considering how he runs his little fiefdom I wouldn't be surprised if every second not spent demolishing houses with his tank was spent in a triple-secure saferoom surrounded by lackies.