Man accused of beating family dog with hammer

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By Martha Kang

Summary

The case first came to light after a worker at Graham Trucking in Seattle told investigators Kirk Frazier "had brought his dog to work with him and tried to kill it with a hammer," detectives said.

Story Published: Mar 2, 2010 at 7:03 PM PDT

Story Updated: Mar 3, 2010 at 4:30 PM PDT

Man accused of beating family dog with hammer
SEATTLE -- Prosecutors have charged a man accused of beating his dog with a hammer in an attempt to kill him.

Kirk D. Frazier, 49, of Seattle has been charged with first-degree animal cruelty in a case involving his dog, Pretzel, a large pit bull mix that had to be euthanized.

The case first came to light after the man's co-worker at Graham Trucking in Seattle filed a complaint with the Seattle Animal Shelter on Sept. 14, 2009. The complainant told investigators Frazier, a truck driver, "had brought his dog to work with him and tried to kill it with a hammer," according to the statement of probable cause.

The complainant said after hearing about the dog attack from another co-worker, he went to the reported place of the attack and saw "blood that was spattered on the tires and wheels of the two semi-trailers," the document said.

Other employees of Graham Trucking corroborated the complainant's story.

One man told investigators on Sept. 14, Frazier "came in, grabbed a hammer out of his tool box and said he had to do something awful and went outside." The man said he heard a dog barking from Frazier's car, and about 30 minutes later Frazier "came back into the shop and threw a bloody hammer on the table," he told investigators. Frazier later reportedly told the same man, "I almost got arrested and had to kill my dog with a hammer in Lot 5," detectives said.

Two other workers reported hearing "what they first thought were seals but realized as the sound grew louder it was a dog in distress," detectives wrote. The workers added they heard "five to 10 thumps each of which was followed by a low growl, yelping and screaming."

Investigators said a review of the company's surveillance footage showed "a man entering a lot with a dog on a leash and approximately five minutes later what appeared to be the same person leaving the lot with a dog off-leash following 20 feet behind."

When questioned by detectives, Frazier said he "didn't mean to hurt or injure 'Pretzel' but just to kill him," the statement said.

The man said he woke up around 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 14 to "his wife screaming that she was bit and that 'Pretzel' had his jaws locked on their other dog," the document said. Frazier said he grabbed his shotgun, took the dog outside and hit him over the head three times, causing the dog to collapse.

"He thought he killed the dog and brought it outside, leaving it by the garbage cans," investigators wrote. But when he came out of the house several hours later to head to work, Frazier saw the dog, wagging his tail by his car, according to the statement.

"He put the dog, along with a hammer, inside a large plastic bag, tied it shut and drove to work. His intention was to finish 'Pretzel' off with the hammer when he got to work," detectives said.

However, when Frazier got to work and let the dog out of the bag, Pretzel just "laid there making gurgling sounds and not attempting to get up," the document said. The man said he then hit the dog two more times in the head, causing the dog to scream. He then went into work and when he came back out, he couldn't find the dog, he told investigators.

The injured dog was found nearby by a woman, who took him to a local veterinarian. A microchip identified the dog as Pretzel, and the vet contacted Frazier, who authorized the euthanasia. A necropsy found multiple areas of trauma to the dog's head and neck region with excessive hemorrhage.

Frazier does not have a prior criminal history. He is scheduled to be arraigned on March 15.