Pet Crematorium Owner Arrested After Leaving 4,000 Pounds of Remains to Decompose

Chris Settle, the owner of a San Marcos, California, pet cremation business was arrested Tuesday on charges of grand theft. It’s the latest update in the disturbing saga of Angel Paws Pet Cremation, which abruptly closed its doors this past summer and left many grieving pet parents even more distraught.  

According to CBS 8, Angel Paws had been facing serious financial difficulties, which led to San Diego Gas and Electric turning off the gas in early July. But apparently, even without his gas on, Settle continued to accept animals for cremation that he knew he couldn’t take. The business officially closed doors in the late summer — without any notice, which left many clients wondering if they would ever get their pets’ remains.

Settle insisted that all private cremations had been fulfilled, though there were about 40 to 50 sets that still needed to process. However, as time went on, it became clear that Settle would not make good on his promise to cremate all the pet remains. Some pet parents became concerned that they had received the wrong set of remains. Several of Angel Paws’ clients gathered outside the business on September 30 to demand answers from Settle. They said they spotted him, but he was unresponsive, so they called 911.

When the police came, they convinced Settle to allow the people to enter and retrieve their pets. The scene was incredibly disturbing: There were over 100 pets stored in freezers, many without proper labeling. Some animals had even been left unrefrigerated for long periods of time. 

 “The smell was horrific. There were bodies laying in the freezer. Little animals... not even bagged up — just laying on top of animals that are bagged up... it was horrible,” Denise Parker, a client of Angel Paws who realized she had received the wrong remains, said to CBS 8. Parker was able to find the real body of her beloved dog but was shocked and betrayed by Settle’s actions. 

“He lied to me and told me he gave me my dog back and my dog is right there,” she said. Nearby Sorrento Valley Pet Cemetery stepped in to help by properly cremating recovered animals, free of charge. Sorrento Valley received more than 30 pets.

“They were decomposed beyond recognition. Something I have never seen in my life,” General Manager Gerry Wellman told Fox 5. 

In November, it got even worse. Settle stopped paying rent, so his landlord, Manuel Villanueva, inspected the property. “What we discovered was out of a horror movie. There were bodies half frozen. A pool of blood. And it was just freezer after freezer in the same condition,” Villanueva told CBS 8.

Approximately 4,000 pounds of animal remains had decomposed so badly, that Villanueva had to take them to a communal cremation facility. They were completely unidentifiable. There were about 40 animals that did have microchips or identification tags. As of November 12, Villanueva said that he would spend the next three to four weeks sorting through the identification and doing his best to reunite pets with their parents. 

“We have integrity, and we’re going to move forward and be very transparent with everything we do. We just need people to understand that it’s going to take us a while,” Villanueva told Fox 5. 

Settle’s arrest was linked to a grand theft arrest warrant issued by a North County Superior Court judge. According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, Settle waived extradition and has been transported to Vista Detention Facility. Anyone with information on Angel Paws Cremation or those who might have been victims of Settle’s financial crimes have been asked to contact the San Marcos Sheriff’s Station at 760-510-5200.