Palo Cedro man accused of killing ex’s dog, secretly feeding it to her

A 34-year-old Palo Cedro, Calif., man has been arrested on suspicion of killing and cooking his ex-girlfriend’s dog before secretly feeding it to her, police say.

Ryan Watenpaugh, 34, was arrested Thursday on charges related to animal cruelty, domestic violence, stalking and false imprisonment, according to a news release from Redding police.

Watenpaugh’s ex-girlfriend told police she suffered physical abuse for months while in a relationship with him, according to the release.

On Aug. 4, the woman said her Pomeranian disappeared after she had a bad fight with Watenpaugh.

The two reconciled the first week in September, at which time Watenpaugh allegedly cooked a meal for the couple, which included meat, police said.

On Sunday, the victim received text messages from Watenpaugh allegedly asking how the dog tasted, and he alluded to killing the dog and to feeding it to her, police said.

On Tuesday, Watenpaugh allegedly left two of the dog’s paws on the victim’s front doorstep, police said.

Watenpaugh allegedly admitted to police that he sent the text messages and left the paws, but he denied killing or cooking the dog.

During a search of his residence, police found a variant of an AK-47 assault rifle and multiple high-capacity magazines, which may result in more charges, police said.

Watenpaugh is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

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