Photo Courtesy of Pets 4 Homes
Cheung said he didn’t throw the dog, but that he tripped going onto the balcony and the dog left his hands.
By Forum Staff
A Fresh Meadows man has been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals after he threw a 12-year-old female pug, whom his ex-girlfriend was caring for, from a seventh floor balcony on March 17.
Authorities say Yuk Cheung, 35, of Parsons Boulevard threw the dog 70 feet to the street below the balcony from the balcony following a dispute with Jennifer Chan. He was arraigned on a charge of aggravated cruelty to animals. Bail was set at $10,000 and Cheung was ordered to return to court on April 4, 2017. If convicted, he faces up to two years in prison.
According to the charges, Cheung went to his former girlfriend’s apartment on 40 Road in Flushing on Friday, March 17 and the two argued about the care of his dog. When Cheung moved out of the apartment, he left the 12-year-old pug behind. During the argument Chan, told him he needed to get a place to stay that allowed dogs. She said he then told her that she “would not have to worry about the dog anymore”, picked up the dog and took it out on the balcony. When he came back inside he did not have the animal with him.
Chan asked him what happened to the dog and he told her the pug had slipped. On March 21, Chueng was talking with detectives about the incident and he told them that he slipped while going outside and the dog got out of his arms. But later he changed his story saying that the dog had leapt out of his arm and fallen through the metal railings to its death.
He went downstairs and found the animal dead on the street and placed her in a box with ice and dumped the remains in a nearby garbage receptacle.
Further investigation at the apartment building by the detective investigating the case, revealed that the balcony extends about five or six feet from the building and directly below it there is a landing that extends approximately 25 feet beyond the building’s façade. In consideration of those measurements it is clear that the defendant had to have propelled the dog about 40 feet through the air for her body to have cleared the balcony, landing below and the sidewalk before hitting the street – about six feet from the edge of the sidewalk.
