Woman wants justice after dog killed in random attack in Brooklyn's Prospect Park
BROOKLYN, New York (WABC) -- A woman, who was out walking her dog in a Brooklyn park, is calling for justice after a man attacked them from behind, killing the dog.
Prospect Park is 500 acres of heaven in the middle of Brooklyn, loaded with cyclists, families and people walking their dogs.
"My heart is shattered, I'm shattered, my world is shattered, my dog was my world," said the victim named Jessica.
Jessica was too rattled to show her face or use her last name, after all, she just buried her best friend Moose.
It happened after a run-in the two of them had with an emotionally disturbed homeless man at the park.
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"This is a violent individual who needs more than just an intervention, they need to be charged because they have violent tendencies," Jessica said.
It happened around dawn last Wednesday, as Jessica was walking her two-and-a-half-year-old golden retriever mix near the picnic house on the park's west side.
She says the man, who was muttering about immigrants, sprayed her with urine.
That's when she decided she had to get away, so she and the dog ran right back up the steps toward home, but by the time they got up to the top, the man had caught up, and attacked.
"We got up the staircase, he hit me in the back, and then he hit Moose across the face so hard that it shattered one of his teeth and he also apparently hit him on the side," Jessica said.
Moose needed not one, but two surgeries, when the veterinarian discovered he was suffering a perforated intestine. He died on the operating table.
"I just want justice for my dog, and I want people to be safe and feel safe in the park, no one should feel unsafe in the park," Jessica said.
The NYPD's Animal Cruelty Unit is investigating, as is the local detective squad.
Jessica hopes they make an arrest soon after this appalling case of random violence in the people's park.
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