Bryan Cavanah Accused In Dog Drowning; Father Blames Transient Epileptic Seizure

A 21-year-old California man accused of drowning his father's dog claims that he doesn't remember the incident.

In a jailhouse interview, Bryan Cavanah told KTXL that he'd never hurt his father's dog, and that he only realized what had happened when he regained consciousness.

“I was bawling out tears because I loved that dog … she was like a therapy dog to me,” Cavanah said. "How could I be a murderer if I didn’t know I was doing that?"

On Monday, horrified onlookers said they saw Cavanah carry a medium-sized pit bull terrier into a Fairfield, Calif., pond and repeatedly dunk the dog underwater.

Witness Luis Huezo told KCRA that he called out to Cavanah twice, but he did not respond.

"I saw him dunk the dog in the water," Huezo said. "I called out to him to stop but he wouldn't listen."

Ronald Cavanah, father of the accused, told KTXL that he doesn't hold his son responsible for the dog's death. He told the station that his son suffers from grand mal and transient epileptic seizures, and that the drowning probably occurred while Bryan was in a trance epileptic state.

“It wasn’t his fault, I don’t even understand how he could be in jail for this because he has no recollection of what he was doing. He would never hurt that puppy,” said Ronald.

Cavanah faces felony animal cruelty and probation violations in connection to the dog’s death.