Two men who allegedly shot a 4-year-old Rottweiler and left the dog for dead on a forest service road near North Bend have been charged by King County prosecutors with first degree animal cruelty.
Prosecutors say the men broke the law by killing an animal “by means causing undue suffering.”
Charges were filed Tuesday against the dog’s owner, Travis L. Hedin, 25, of North Bend, and his father, Terrance L. Hedin, 53, of Tukwila.
According to court documents, the men wanted to kill the male dog, Maynard, for biting the son’s wife twice in the last two months.
According to prosecutors, the father told a King County Sheriff’s deputy that they drove the dog to a remote area off Interstate 90 Exit 38 near North Bend on May 31. They tied the dog to a tree at a popular unofficial shooting range and distracted it with beef jerky.
The men repeatedly shot Maynard, who tumbled down a steep embankment. Allegedly neither man confirmed that the dog had died.
That afternoon people in the area found the dog later that day and contacted King County Animal Care and Control, which transported the dog to an animal hospital in Bellevue.
Despite emergency surgery, veterinarians realized after four days the dog wouldn’t recover from his wounds, which had left him paralyzed below the neck. Maynard was euthanized Thursday, June 4.
Rewards for information leading to an arrest were posted by Seattle Humane Society and Pasado’s Safe Haven.
On Friday, June 12, Terrance Hedin turned himself in at the King County Sheriff’s precinct in North Bend.
If convicted, the men face up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine. Their arraignments are set for July 7 at the King County Courthouse in Seattle.
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