HELL’S KITCHEN — A man was arrested for stabbing his dog to death and throwing it down a garbage chute inside a luxury high-rise because it was “acting irrational,” officials said.
Zheheng Feng, 24, admitted to stabbing his approximately 16.5-pound, mixed-breed dog in the chest inside an apartment at Sky — a 71-story building at 605 W. 42nd St., at the corner of 11th Avenue — around 4:55 p.m. on May 26, a complaint filed with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said.
“I fed my dog, and it was acting irrational,” Feng told an NYPD detective, according to the complaint. “So I went to take the dog dish away from him.”
When the dog started scratching Feng’s arms, the man stabbed it in the chest, the complaint said.
The detective who interviewed Feng after he was arrested noticed two “very small” scratches on his left arm, and two “very small” scratches on his right arm, according to the complaint.
After Feng was sure the dog was dead, he threw it in a garbage bag with the knife and tossed it down the building's garbage chute, the DA’s office said.
A worker emptying trash from a compactor in the basement of the building around the same time heard a bag of trash falling down the chute. The garbage bag that landed was ripped open, and a dog’s head was sticking out, the DA’s office said.
An ASPCA worker who examined the dog’s body discovered the pet had a 6.2-centimeter wound on the right side of its chest, the complaint said.
Feng was arrested and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals on Friday, the DA’s office said.
He was released after paying his $10,000 bail and is next expected to appear in court on June 7, according to the DA’s office and city Department of Correction records.
His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
