A 'spontaneous self-initiation of inappropriate bite contact'
In 2022, a Seattle police dog in training mauled his handler's roommate. Newly released records reveal more details on the incident and SPD's response

Content Note: Descriptions of a dog attack and pictures of the resulting injuries.
The Seattle Police Department released records this week documenting an unprovoked off-duty attack by a police dog in March 2022. According to documents DivestSPD obtained via a public records request, K9 Thor lept on the back of his handler Kame Spencer’s roommate, biting and scratching her several times on the back and shoulder.
In Spencer’s report on the incident, she wrote that the attack occurred around 10 p.m. after she returned from a walk and commanded the dog to “go say hi” to her two roommates. She explained that the “phrase is his command to go socialize.”
When the dog jumped up next to the roommate, who was doing laundry and watching TV, Spencer gave a “no” command because she ostensibly trained the dog not to do that. Before she could give the “off” command, K9 Thor’s demeanor suddenly changed from friendly—“wagging his tail”—to hostile. Spencer wrote that she “heard him growl and saw him open his mouth, teeth displayed, and bite her left arm.”
K9 Thor bit Spencer’s roommate on the shoulder and upper arm, and Spencer ran over to pull the dog off her. The dog released but bit her again on the shoulder and lower back as she was moving away, according to the report. Spencer’s roommate went to the ER, where she received stitches for the deep puncture wounds sustained during the attack.
Spencer’s supervisor Sgt. Kirk Waldorf was called to the scene to review what he described as a “spontaneous self-initiation of inappropriate bite contact.” Waldorf recommended against returning K9 Thor to service, noting that the dog was “not responding to remedial training” and had “presented negative tendencies toward uninvolved parties.”
Waldorf wrote in his report that K9 Thor had finished his 400 hours of certification training in November 2021, but the dog “was not ready to deploy under Seattle Police Canine Unit Policy.” In an OPA complaint against another K9 handler, Waldorf’s predecessor, Sgt. John O’Neill also alluded to problems with Spencer’s training.
Spencer and Thor were certified in December 2021, approximately four months before the attack, but O’Neill described their training as “subpar.” He observed that Spencer and the other K9 trainee, Dillon Butenhoff, “were a long way from being able to work the streets.”
K9 Thor was trained and certified through the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. According to Waldorf’s statement, PCSO uses a compulsion-based training method that emphasizes physical punishment and control. Research suggests that such an approach can cause adverse effects, such as heightened anxiety and aggression, and could reduce search dogs’ effectiveness in the field.
While Spencer and Thor were undergoing their certification training, the City of Seattle was finalizing a six-figure settlement with a woman bitten by an SPD police dog during a training exercise in Tukwila. That dog’s handler, Ofc. Anthony Ducre, played a role in Spencer’s training. Ducre’s dog, K9 Jedi, was fatally stabbed to death in January 2022 after the officer ordered him to bite a naked man experiencing a mental health crisis. Another officer shot the man to death when Ducre intervened and was slashed in the face.
Like Thor, Jedi also had demonstrated repeated control issues, including an incident in which he broke free from Ducre’s cruiser and attacked a handcuffed man. However, Jedi was never taken out of service. Ducre was suspended for that incident and investigated for several other allegations of serious misconduct but remains in the K9 unit.
According to a review by special services Captain Trent Bergmann, Thor was sent to a facility called Jefferson Rehabilitation for retraining and “will not be returned to the Seattle Police Department.” Waldorf and the rest of Spencer’s chain of command concluded that she had followed procedures and acted appropriately.
Spencer was on the scene with her newly issued dog at SPD’s first and only police shooting this year. It was the third time in three years that a K9 was present at a police shooting involving a man in crisis. In one, the OPA faulted the K9 officer for escalating the deadly encounter, and SPD transferred him out of the unit.
K9 Frodo, Spencer’s new partner, made his debut this January. He is described on the Seattle Police Foundation website as “a goofy, happy, friendly guy who enjoys meeting and making friends with humans.”
For the sake of Spencer’s current or future roommates, let’s hope so.