Yakima Man Arrested For Dog Torture Back in Court

A Yakima man arrested on felony animal abuse charges in July of last year is back in court today after being arrested on a bench warrant.

The suspect failed to show up for a court date so a bench warrant was issued

Yakima County Prosecutor Joe Brusic says Eduardo Serrano-Reyes was arrested last summer for torturing and killing a dog at his home on the 4th of July. He appeared for a preliminary arraignment on the charges but failed to show up for an October 22 status hearing. After he failed to show up for the hearing a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was recently taken into custody and was in court this morning on the charge of First Degree Animal Cruelty.

Police say the Reyes tortured and killed dog found in his yard in the 700 block of South 4th Avenue on the 4th of July.

Yakima Police say Serrano-Reyes tortured the dog before it was killed

Police Capt. Jay Seely says Serrano-Reyes tied the dogs legs together and then hung the dog. He then slashed the dogs throat and cut and bruised the dogs body. Police found the dog buried in the suspects yard. They took pictures of the dog and the pictures were examined by locat vets who say the wounds were from a knife. When police confronted him he reportedly told them the dog had wandered into his yard and was attacked by his two dogs.

Serrano-Reyes denies the charges

He says he slashed the dogs throat to kill the dog because it was suffering from injuries after being attacked by his dogs. Police say they don't believe his story. He requested but a judge refused to return his two dogs to him until after the investigation and the case is complete.

State officials say first degree animal cruelty is a class C felony, which includes intentionally inflicting pain, causing physical injury or killing an animal in a way that causes undue suffering.