New Mexico Man Allegedly Stabbed, Skinned Family Dog for Dinner
A New Mexico man faces felony animal cruelty charges—and a possible federal parole violation—after he allegedly killed the family puppy with a screwdriver and tried to have it served up for dinner.
According to KRQE-TV in Albuquerque, Salvador Martinez, 46, told Torrence County investigators that he killed the 9-month-old Chiweenie (which I had to look up—it's a mix of a Chihuahua and a Dachsund) named Onyx with a screwdriver wound to the heart, skinned it and put the it in the freezer while he looked up dog meat recipes online.
"The kids were present inside the residence and had full knowledge of what was taking place with their family pet," Torrence County Sheriff Heath White told KRQE.
It's perfectly legal to eat a dog in New Mexico, but stabbing a dog to death with a screwdriver in the backyard while young children look on in horror isn't—so Martinez now faces a felony charge of extreme animal cruelty as well as a child abuse charge.
When his girlfriend found the dead dog in the refrigerator the next day and confronted Martinez, he allegedly said that if she didn't want it then he'd take it over to his mom's house to barbecue.
Authorities say that Martinez—who was allegedly intoxicated at the time of the incident—did it because he claimed there wasn't enough food for themselves and their grandchildren.
His girlfriend told police there was plenty of food in the house.
In addition to the state charges, Martinez is now in federal custody for possibly violating the terms of his parole. He had been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for getting caught smuggling 13 kilos of cocaine across the Mexican border in 2003.