SEATTLE — A former employee of a Ballard kennel is facing animal cruelty charges after allegedly beating a dog to death.
Dejean Cornelius Bowens pleaded not guilty to first-degree animal cruelty in King County Superior Court on Monday.
The incident took place on August 3 at the Lazy Dog Crazy Dog boarding facility in Ballard.
Bowens is accused of beating a black lab named Mitch.
According to a report from the Seattle Police Department (SPD), Bowens became irritated after Mitch spilled or knocked something over, and Bowens allegedly ‘lost control’ and kicked the dog multiple times, causing internal bleeding.
SPD says the incident happened at around 4 a.m., and Mitch wasn’t brought to a vet until 5:45 a.m.
Veterinary staff told police that Mitch was not able to stand on his own and his abdomen was full of blood. Despite five rounds of CPR, Mitch had passed away.
Mitch’s owners, Anthony and Neela Brocato, were in court for Monday’s hearing.
“We are just really determined to get justice for Mitch,” Neela said. “He deserves justice, and we want to make sure that this never happens to any other dog.”
Lazy Dog Crazy Dog released the following statement following the incident:
Back on August 3, our former night person physically abused one of our boarding dogs to the point where he passed away a few hours later. The employee was terminated immediately.
The ex-employee was charged today. We have not commented publicly during this process out of respect for the ongoing investigation, but we want to be transparent with our community. We are heartbroken and outraged by what happened. The actions of this former employee are in complete violation of our values, our mission, and the standard of care we’ve upheld for over 16 years while serving tens of thousands of dogs. We continue to support law enforcement and hope that justice is served for the dog.
Bowens’ next court date is set for November 26.
©2025 Cox Media Group
