NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A rescue dog was forced to be euthanized after being stabbed to death during a quarrel between two dog owners in Central Park in New York City. Brian Robert Cornwell, 52, and his wife Melanie were walking their two dogs, a Pitbull-German Shepherd mix and a Chihuahua near 106th Street and Fifth Avenue at around 8:30 pm on Saturday, June 17 when they got into an argument with the owner of three unleashed dogs.
During the heated altercation, one of the unleashed dogs attacked Cornwell’s pit bull, Eli, who was leashed at that time. As the couple tried to separate the dogs, the suspect pulled out a switchblade and began mercilessly stabbing Eli. "You killed my dog you piece of sh*t," Cornwell yelled at the suspect, who immediately fled the area. "He's a crazy guy," he told the New York Post, vowing to never enter the park. "I was trying to correct him and say it's not OK, your dog just tried to bite my dog. And then he just wanted to be a tough guy and he started trying to talk to me like he's my dad. I know the guy, I've spoken to him. But his dogs never tried to bite my dog," he continued.
‘A lot of blood around it’
The couple's severely wounded dog was rushed to a nearby veterinary facility, where she was put to death on Saturday night, according to the New York Police Department. "There was a dog on the ground that was dead, a lot of blood around it, a guy was trying to do something - and three other pit bulls without leashes...three pit bulls around him," an eyewitness told ABC 7. Police are currently looking for the accused male, who was reportedly wearing an orange baseball cap, blue pants, and an orange shirt at the time of the attack.
Following the attack, Cornwell revealed that he and his wife attempted to leave before things got out of hand and even pepper sprayed the suspect, but it had no impact. "I know stuff happens. But I thought it was pretty safe around this neighborhood," Cornwell further told NY Post. The pair claims that they won’t adopt another dog out of fear that something similar will happen again. "It's hard because the dog was attached to her," Cornwell explained to which his wife added, "I don't want to see that happen again. I'm sad and I'm scared about what happened."
Similar incident
This is not the first vicious attack on a dog in New York in the past 12 months. Last August, Jessica Chrustic and her Golden Retriever, Moose, mix were attacked by an emotionally disturbed man wielding a staff in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Moose was rushed to a nearby veterinary facility, where he succumbed to his injuries. In another instance, a dog named Bandit was stabbed in Brooklyn at Fort Greene Park in May 2021 when it approached the stabber's dog during off-leash hours.
