Austin, TX – Two man are facing charges after investigators linked them to more than a dozen dead dogs who were found in a south Austin creek earlier this year. As reported by KVUE News, investigators identified 61-year-old Fred John Riess and 51-year-old Rafael Cantu-Baez Riess as the men responsible for the dead dogs found in South Boggy Creek.

Police, acting on a search warrant, found more dead animals in a freezer in the residence the men had lived in on Shiloh Drive near Menchaca Road.

Before the dogs were dumped in the creek, the men were in the process of selling the Shiloh Drive home. A realtor had noticed their dogs and asked if the men needed help rehoming them, but they refused.

Neighbors said the home had fallen into “shambles” before the men moved away, and expressed disbelief that the dogs were killed and dumped in the creek just yards away from the home. One neighbor told the news agency, “I was totally devastated. I just can’t believe that sense of cruelty to kill all of those dogs when they could have found homes for them. They could have taken them to some shelter, or they could have asked for help.”

The men are facing charges but have not been arrested.

(Screenshots via KVUE News)

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