Man arrested after reportedly setting fire to South Valley home, killing 14 dogs

Alleged arsonist arrested in house fire that killed 14 dogs

Sixteen dogs were barking and crying as a South Valley home was burning in April. Moments la…

Sixteen dogs were barking and crying as a South Valley home was burning in April. Moments later, all but two were dead.

Max Martinez, 41, of Albuquerque, was arrested on Monday and charged with 16 counts of extreme cruelty to animals and criminal damage under $1,000. He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Around 2 a.m. on April 17, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office responded to a call to assist Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue with a structure fire in the 7400 block of Sanchez SW, near Isleta.

Fire investigators told deputies the fire "was intentionally set," according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. An investigator reported that the fire had two points of origin, according to the complaint.

The residents told deputies they lived in the house with 16 dogs. They also told deputies that they allowed a man to stay there who had been in a fight with his boyfriend, later identified as Martinez, the complaint states.

That night, the residents told deputies, after Martinez's boyfriend received a call from Martinez, the boyfriend told the residents they should go to Isleta Resort & Casino, deputies said.

Just before 2 a.m., one of the residents told deputies they received a text from Martinez saying he had been at the house and added, "cute dogs," according to the complaint.

Martinez also said in the text that "those bags are supposed to be fire resistant I'm not saying I had anything to do with it. I'm sure whoever did thought just the stuff inside would have burned and didn't mean for anything else to catch especially within a metal structure," deputies said.

A resident told deputies their cousin heard the dogs barking and crying during the fire, deputies said. A dead dog was found on the porch, according to the complaint. In total, 14 dogs were killed while two others ran away, deputies said. It wasn't immediately clear Monday if the two dogs had been found.

"Based (on) Maximiliano's text of 'cute dogs' and the fact there was a deceased canine on the front porch where the fire started, he knew there were animals on/in the property," according to the complaint. "Maximiliano had previously been to the residence and knew the (residents) had dogs living in the structure."

A woman told deputies she gave Martinez a ride to the house to drop off his boyfriend's bags, deputies said. "It's believed it was (the boyfriend's) bags that Maximiliano set on fire because they were fighting and he got a ride to bring over his bags."

Tom Conklin, with the New Mexico Fire Marshal's Office, told deputies lab results tested negative for an accelerant, which "would be expected if the fire was started in a bag on the porch," the complaint states.