‘Thrown away and discarded’: Man arrested after Henderson dog in trash bag dies
A 60-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a dog that died after it was discarded in a trash bag on Wednesday, Henderson’s police chief said Friday.
Randy Katz, 60, was taken into custody Friday by the Henderson Police Department, Police Chief Reggie Rader and Lt. Jim Dunlap said in a news conference Friday afternoon.
According to online Henderson Justice Court records, Katz faces one felony count of willful or malicious torture of an animal. Katz, according to court records, appeared before Henderson Judge Sandra Allred DiGiacomo on Friday.
Dunlap said police were made aware through a social media post that a dog was in distress in a west Henderson neighborhood Wednesday evening. According to a Henderson police news release, at approximately 8 p.m. Wednesday, police “became aware of a social media post regarding a dog reportedly found in a trash bag near the area of Via Da Vinci and Via Firenze.”
Residents who found the dog, in the 2300 block of Spalato Court, transported it to a local animal hospital.
Dunlap said the dog, a terrier mix named Bailey, was placed in a trash bag and put in a trash bin while it was still alive, though it later was pronounced dead Wednesday night by a local veterinarian.
“Major case protocol was initiated for this case on behalf of the chief of police,” Dunlap said. “This is a serious case, which determines the full force and impact of the Henderson Police Department.”
Dunlap said about 30 “detectives and supervisors” have worked on the case since Wednesday. Dunlap said a necropsy on the dog has been ordered.
Rader said Katz was found to be in possession of other pets, though those animals were taken from him. He said a chip implanted in the dog was used to locate a previous owner, who then helped police locate Katz.
“We’re going to wait for the results of the necropsy,” Rader said. “We have a pretty good idea of what happened, but I’m not ready to talk about that just yet. It became very apparent to us that this animal, which belonged to Mr. Katz, was injured and was thrown away and discarded while it was still alive.”
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.
