The president of a local animal advocacy group is calling for a criminal investigation into a Tarzana dog sitter after her pit bull suffered horrific and fatal injuries in his care, part of what she calls a pattern of suspicious dog deaths involving the sitter.
Adam Rabinowitz is the subject of several social media posts warning pet owners not to place animals in his care. Several attempts to reach Rabinowitz for comment over the weekend were unsuccessful.
Zohra Fahim, president and founder of Los Angeles Alliance for Animals, says she boarded Odin with Rabinowitz last month on the advice of friends in the rescue community, only to have things turn tragic when the dog sitter called her on July 1 and told her Odin was not moving and could not get up.
On her urging, he took her to TrueCare in Studio City, where a vet found the dog had internal bleeding and no function in his back legs. Fahim says Rabinowitz claimed Odin was injured in a fight with another dog, but she says the vet found no puncture wounds and “there was no evidence of another dog.”
She further says Rabinowitz admitted to slamming Odin to the ground — presumably to get him off the other dog — but she says Odin’s injuries suggest far more serious physical abuse than the sitter’s explanation can account for.
After Odin continued to deteriorate, he was put to sleep. Fahim says she’s having a necropsy performed next week.
“I believe the circumstances surrounding his death warrant a thorough and independent investigation,” Fahim wrote in a letter to the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services. “Odin was my world, and I expect every reasonable effort to be made to determine what happened to him.
” … Odin’s veterinary records paint a devastating picture of the extent of his injuries. They document severe bodily trauma, paralysis of his hind limbs, and a recommendation for consultation with a veterinary neurologist due to the severity of his condition. The nature and extent of these documented injuries are deeply concerning and, in my view, are consistent with extreme physical abuse. Odin deserved protection, not unimaginable suffering.”
LAAS officials did not respond to a request for comment, but Fahim said TrueCare also reported concerns about possible animal cruelty to LAAS.
“This is the worst thing … he was the sweetest boy,” Fahim told City News Service, her voice breaking with sadness. “I was looking forward to his senior years. He was only 2 years old.”
She said she chose to board Odin with Rabinowitz because he was recommended by others in the rescue community, but now wishes she had done more research on him beforehand.
“The biggest mistake I made was not looking him up by his last name,” she said, noting the stories circulating about Rabinowitz on Instagram, Nextdoor and Facebook.
Natalie Garcia also works for an animal rescue, and told CNS she left Raffi, a “healthy, happy” Great Dane mix she was fostering, with Rabinowitz earlier this year on the recommendation of others in the rescue community, who said he offered an affordable rate and seemed to be good with dogs.
She said Rabinowitz called her one day crying, saying he went out to walk other dogs and when he returned home Raffi was dead in his crate. Rabinowitz suggested he might have died from bloat, and admitted to Garcia that he may have overfed the dog, Garcia said.
“We figured he was probably a Dane mix, and they can get bloat,” she told CNS. “He’s (Rabinowitz) like a charismatic guy, and I thought `this can happen. It’s unfortunate, but what are you going to do?”
It was only after she began hearing other stories about Rabinowitz that Garcia became suspicious, and — like Fahim and others — regretful that she hadn’t done more vetting.
“We’re in rescue, so we’re very good at listening to animals,” Garcia told CNS. “Every time we took (Raffi) back from an adoption event, he was excited to see Adam.”
Fahim says she’s heard from others in the rescue community who have suspicions about Rabinowitz, including one person who had a dog die from kidney failure, and a woman who pulled dogs from his care because she felt he was not fit to care for them.
Another post from the Sepulveda Basin Off Leash Dog Park Community alleges Rabinowitz was walking a small dog at the park in October 2023 who later died. The post says Rabinowitz claimed the dog was attacked at the park by a much larger husky, but no witnesses to such an attack could be found.
Fahim and other animal advocates planned to stage a news conference outside Rabinowitz’s residence at 5:30 p.m. Sunday evening to reiterate her call for an investigation.
“My beloved dog … did not deserve to die this way,” she said. “He was the light of my world — the sweetest soul imaginable. The injuries documented by his veterinarians are devastating. Those responsible must be held accountable, and no other family should have to experience this unimaginable heartbreak.”