Man Cited For Beating Dog To Death With Bat Owners Seek Felony Charges; Dog Was Subject Of Formal Complaint

Pete Kintner woke up at 11:15 Friday night to the familiar sound of his neighbor’s dog barking.

Other West Central Spokane neighbors had complained to authorities about the dog, Socks, an 18-month-old Pomeranian. Kintner said the dog had kept him up “more times than he could count.”

He responded, police said, by beating the dog to death with a baseball bat.

Kintner, 44, was issued a misdemeanor animal cruelty citation after the dog’s owner saw him hit Socks twice with the bat, police said.

The dog was dead when police arrived.

Kintner said he would not comment on the charges until he talked to his attorney.

Socks’ owners, Rebecca and Michael Vargas, have asked the Spokane County prosecutor’s office to use recent changes in the state animal cruelty law to charge Kintner with a felony.

“No dog deserves what he did to this dog,” said Michael Vargas. “I’m more than upset.”

Spokane County prosecutors have not yet processed the case and no charges have been filed.

Animal cruelty statutes were changed in 1994 following the highly publicized killing of Pasado, a donkey in a Bellevue petting zoo.

Previously, animal cruelty, even in cases involving death, was a misdemeanor with penalties similar to shoplifting.

After the Pasado case, statutes were changed to allow prosecutors to press Class C felony charges - punishable by up to a year in prison - if a person intentionally inflicts “substantial pain” or if an animal is killed with “means involving undo suffering.”

Four people statewide have been charged with felony animal cruelty, according to the Progressive Animal Welfare Society, which tracks those cases. One microwaved a cat. Another, an 18-year-old, was accused of stabbing a cat 26 times with a kitchen knife.

Dan Satterburg, a King County prosecutor, helped lobby the Legislature for the changes because animal abusers, particularly youths, often turn into human abusers.

“The intent of the law was to get ahold of offenders who, for their own sadistic reasons, enjoy inflicting pain on living beings,” Satterburg said.

Lisa Wathney, spokeswoman for the Progressive Animal Welfare Society, said the Spokane case would appear to be a felony offense because of the weapon used.

“It wouldn’t be too hard to prove intent if an animal is repeatedly hit with an item like that,” said Wathney.

The Kintners and neighbors say the Friday incident was the culmination of a series of hostile run-ins with the Vargases.

In June, neighbors signed a petition and registered a formal complaint about Socks’ barking with SpokAnimal, which responds to complaints about pets in the city.

If the dog had been kept away from the Kintners’ window, “we wouldn’t have the problem,” said Kintner.

Rebecca Vargas said the day after the beating, Kintner’s wife showed her 7-year-old son, Frankie, the bat allegedly used to beat Socks.

“It was bloody,” Frankie Vargas said.

Sharon Kintner said she did not display a bat. She said Vargas “has an imagination.”

Saying they fear for the safety of their other dog, a brown Labrador named Precious, the Vargases plan to request a restraining order against Kintner.

, DataTimes