Dog fatally stabbed in Central Park after argument between walkers

East Drive near 106th Street in Central Park in 2012.

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A dog was fatally stabbed in Central Park on Saturday night after an argument between canine walkers turned violent, according to police.

The pooch was on an evening walk with its owners, a 43-year-old woman and 51-year-old man, on Central Park’s East Drive near 106th Street a little before 8:30 p.m. on June 17. The woman told police they encountered a man walking three dogs without a leash, and the three humans got into an argument for unknown reasons.

The dispute turned violent when the unknown man pulled out a blade and stabbed the couple’s dog, who was identified as a German Shepherd-Pit Bull mix named Eli by the New York Daily News, which first reported on the incident; police could not confirm the dog’s name and breed. The Daily News also reported the unleashed dogs started biting Eli and the couple’s other dog, a chihuahua, amid the altercation.

The 51-year-old man rushed the dog to a local animal clinic, where the pooch was euthanized due to the severity of its injuries.

The stabber fled the scene and has not been caught.

The incident isn’t the first violent attack against a dog in a city park. In 2021, a Great Dane and Bernese Mountain Dog mix named Bandit was knifed at Fort Greene Park after Bandit approached the stabber’s dog during off-leash hours. Bandit miraculously survived, and the alleged stabber, Steven Horn, was arrested a month later.

Last August, Jessica Chrustic and her Golden Retriever mix Moose were attacked by an emotionally disturbed man wielding a staff in Prospect Park; Moose later died of his injuries. The perpetrator is unknown but was a regular presence in the park. The attack became a flashpoint in Park Slope and led to the creation of a new neighborhood watch group called the Park Slope Panthers.

Police later admitted they “may have dropped the ball.”