A Yakima man arrested on felony animal abuse charges is expected to be in court on Friday for a formal arraignment. Many Yakima animal lovers vow to be at the courthouse in support of the dog that police say Eduardo Serrano-Reyes tortured and killed at his home on the 4th of July.

ARRAIGNMENT IS SET FOR 9:00AM FRIDAY

During his initial court appearance last week he was released as part of the county pretrial release program.
Arraignments begin at 9:00AM Friday in Yakima County jail courtroom 1. Yakima County Prosecutor Joe Brusic says he knows people are hoping for a harsh sentence and are very upset. But he says it's likely if Serrano-Reyes is convicted he won't spend much time behind bars. Brusic says with no prior criminal record, the charge of first-degree animal abuse calls for a term of 0-365 days. If he is convicted and sentenced to jail time Brusic says the time would be spent in the Yakima County jail. No prison time because of the nature of the charge.
Brusic says that many be discouraging for some people but he says it's the legislature that creates sentencing guidelines not the Yakima County Prosecutors Office.

POLICE SAY THE SUSPECT KILLED AFTER HANGING AND SLASHING THE DOG

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. He was arrested in early June at his home where police also found the dog buried on his property.
They say he 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 local 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.

THE SUSPECT SAYS HE KILLED THE DOG AFTER IT WAS ATTACKED BY HIS DOGS

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.

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