A North Carolina man attacked a family’s dog and stabbed it to death with a knife in an unprovoked attack, the Asheville Watchdog reported.
James Wesley Henry, 43, was arrested and charged with felony cruelty to animals, according to Asheville Police.
Henry allegedly walked up to the 11-year-old dog and grabbed it by the throat before slashing it with a knife while the dog’s owner played pickleball.
The dog’s owner, Liesbeth Mackie, said she brought her dog, named Beignet, with her to Weaver Park and secured her on a long leash near the pickleball court. When she and other players heard a commotion, she looked over and saw the attack happen.
“All of a sudden, I noticed that there was some commotion happening with her dog,” pickleball player Eric Hulin told the Watchdog.
“I saw the attacker, definitely with all of his strength — with what I thought at the time was a closed fist — slamming on the dog, really.”
“I turned and looked at the dog, and saw its last couple of yelps and twitches,” Hulin said to the outlet, adding that he can’t get the image out of his head.
“It was covered in blood. There was blood everywhere. It took me a moment because I wasn’t sure what happened.”
Henry then left the scene as witnesses gave chase. He was later arrested.
“My three children, husband and I are devastated,” Mackie told News 13. “This happened in broad daylight at Weaver Park. My fellow players were just a few feet away, which apparently didn’t scare off Beignet’s assailant.”
“Asheville is no longer safe,” her husband Tom Mackie said. “The way our dog was savagely murdered, it could have been my wife. It could have been a kid. The crime in Asheville is spreading out like a cancer.”
