Man Finds Bodies of Dogs in Freezer

A man looking for food found a freezer full of frozen dogs at a garage rented by his ex-girlfriend, Glendale police said.

Virginia Van Deipen, who is on probation for cruelty to animals and was convicted of operating an unlicensed kennel, is being sought by police for questioning.

Police said the 55-year-old woman forced her boyfriend out of their camper van in Van Nuys at gunpoint after a heated argument Monday night. He told police that at about 9:30 p.m., he drove to the rented garage in Glendale to look for food. Instead, he found a dozen frozen Lhasa apsos, Maltese and mixed breed dogs.

Glendale Humane Society authorities say they will perform necropsies on the carcasses. At least some appear to have died of old age, said humane society director Michael Peatrowsky.

In June, Deipen pleaded no contest to charges that she operated an illegal kennel in Burbank, officials said. Three months later she was in court again after 47 caged dogs were found in her unventilated truck suffering from heat, said Fred Delany, superintendent of the Burbank Animal Control Department.