Kenneth Gookin, 26, of Boulder (Boulder County Sheriff's Office)

A 26-year-old Boulder man faces an animal suffering charge after police say he killed his 4-month-old beagle named "Vicious" by taping her mouth shut.

Kenneth Gookin, who's homeless and has been staying at a friend's apartment on 26th Street, called the Humane Society of Boulder Valley last week to ask for help "disposing" of a puppy that died "as a result of an accident," according to Boulder police.

Gookin eventually admitted to taping the dog's mouth because she would not stop barking and chewing on things, according to police. He told police that the dog's death was an accident and that he "placed the tape far back on the muzzle so as not to obstruct the nose."

When an officer asked him why he would even consider using tape to muzzle a dog, Gookin replied that he was at his "wits' end," police reported.

Officers arrested Gookin on Friday on suspicion of "subjecting animals to unnecessary suffering," a Boulder municipal violation.

Initially, Gookin didn't mention the tape. He told police that Vicious had chewed a phone charger and that he had locked the dog in the bathroom to keep her from chewing more things while he and Eric Bussineau, 27, went to Target to get a new charger. When they returned, Gookin found the beagle not breathing, police reported, so he put the puppy in a trash bag and set it on the balcony.

Because of blood found around the puppy's mouth, officers suspected animal abuse and took the dog to the Humane Society's veterinary clinic for a necropsy. The clinic determined the dog died of asphyxiation, and the necropsy showed bruising near the larynx and behind her ears -- signs of strangulation.

Police confronted the men about the findings Friday, and that's when they told police that Gookin had placed tape around the puppy's mouth before they went to Target.

If Gookin is found guilty of causing his dog's death, a judge could restrict his contact with animals, said Humane Society CEO Lisa Pedersen.

"The severity of this case is disturbing," she said. "It was just a puppy doing what puppies do, and no matter how frustrated he was, that's no excuse for this abuse and torture."

The asphyxiation that killed Vicious, and the bruising on her head, could have been caused by someone strangling the dog or by swelling in her throat or tongue from the tape, Pedersen said.

Gookin remained in the Boulder County Jail on a $1,480 bond Monday.

Boulder police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said police arrested him on suspicion of a municipal violation instead of a felony because they don't think he intended to kill the dog.

Elan Tuvia, 20, who lives in the apartment and told police he was at home sleeping when the beagle died, was ticketed for "improper care" after officers became concerned about the welfare of his English bulldog. Police noticed a wound on the dog's back, and Tuvia said he had been treating the bulldog for a mite infestation but ran out of the cream he was using.

Gookin's arrest was the second dog-taping case that Boulder police have investigated this year.

Officers arrested Abby Toll, 20, on April 14 on suspicion of binding her boyfriend's 2-year-old shiba inu in packing tape and sticking him upside-down to a refrigerator during a fight. That dog lived and was adopted by a new family.

Toll is scheduled to be tried for felony cruelty to animals in April.