Angel Paws Pet Cremation appeared to be a nondescript San Marcos business, where grieving clients brought in their dearly departed pets — until they stopped getting their calls returned, and the building began to smell.
Angel Paws owner Christopher Settle was arrested Tuesday for alleged grand theft, in a scheme prosecutors say involved taking in pets for cremations, collecting the payment, and leaving them in freezers to rot as he distributed false ashes.
The San Marcos station of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Settle’s arrest outside of his Temecula home on a warrant issued that day in North County Superior Court. He was released on bond the next day and awaits his scheduled Dec. 10 court appearance.
The San Marcos cremation business was under scrutiny since early this year, when clients raised concerns on social media and to local news stations about Angel Paws’s closure with their pets’ remains reportedly still inside.
Officials say that the local power company had cut off the gas and electricity due to missed payments since July 9, which would have left the carcasses decomposing for up to five months before Settle’s eviction in November. An affidavit in support of the arrest warrant, obtained by the San Diego Union-Tribune, said Settle’s incinerator operating permit expired in March 2024.
According to sheriff’s office reports, deputies responded to calls from several former clients who gathered in front of Angel Paws in late September, demanding answers. While Settle was initially unresponsive, deputies convinced him to allow the clients in, where local cremation company owner Gerry Wellman recounted a “grisly” scene of stacked, partially frozen pet bodies.
“It’s just a fiasco,” said Wellman, who learned of the initial scene firsthand from clients. “These people were waiting for their loved ones’ ashes and got nothing. The worst thing you could do to someone who’s grieving is not answer them or to lie. That’s what made me want to get involved.”
Wellman, owner of Sorrento Valley Pet Cemetery, stepped in to offer to cremate the remaining bodies, and says Angel Paws’ operation was “disorganized and unprofessional.”
“The owner of Angel Paws called me to drop off 20 pets that he couldn’t cremate. He showed up that Saturday with a U-Haul truck of 40 plus pets,” Wellman said. “We couldn’t even do inventory, these were pets that had maggots. They were in such a deplorable state.”
Wellman says that he is receiving up to 15 calls a day from people affected by the situation.
“The victims I worked with said that they felt defrauded, they felt that everyone involved had missed the signs and let it go on way too long,” Wellman said. “I mean, the area around the building smelled awful, like throw-up.”
One pet owner at the September confrontation, Denise Parker, told CBS8 that she found her pet amid the chaos, despite being told that she was given its ashes.
“The smell was horrific,” Parker told CBS8. “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.”
Former clients of Angel Paws or those with information are encouraged to contact the San Marcos Sheriff’s Station at (760) 510-5200.
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