L.A. Skid Row’s Cruelty to Animals on Display in PETA Video Featuring Jesse Kove, David Chokachi

For Immediate Release:
June 1, 2026

Contact:
Hannah Nelson 202-483-7382

“We have laws in place. Enforce them.” That’s the message in a new PETA video that takes actors Jesse Kove and David Chokachi and influencer Nathan the Cat Lady to Los Angeles’ Skid Row, where the problem of sick, suffering dogs being illegally bred and denied veterinary care intensifies while Mayor Karen Bass turns a blind eye. Guided by Starts With One Today (SWOT) founders Jonathan and Victoriah Bech Parker and volunteer Joey Tuccio, the trio witnesses the cruelty firsthand—such as the mother dog who has reportedly been urinating blood for months while her owners refuse veterinary care and continue to breed her illegally. After SWOT reported the situation to Animal Control, Bech Parker says officers issued a citation but left the dog where she is.

Police officers have reportedly told the group that Bass’ office has instructed that certain laws, including spay/neuter requirements, not be applied to unhoused people—as evidenced in the video when the activists find a skid row pug breeding operation with puppies for sale out in the open. According to the dog breeders, the puppies’ mother was running at large and was hit and killed by a car the week prior.

“The people of Los Angeles made it clear years ago that they wanted their animals protected and the overpopulation crisis brought under control through prevention,” says PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange. “Our city’s spay-and-neuter law applies to everyone, and PETA’s video shows just a fraction of the animals suffering and dying on L.A.’s streets because Mayor Bass refuses to lift a finger to help them.”

The public can contact Mayor Bass and ask that Los Angeles enforce its animal protection laws on Skid Row and throughout the city through PETA’s website.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.