Family Claims Their Dog Was Stabbed by a Stranger During a Walk on N.Y.C. Street: ‘It’s Really Devastating’

A family dog is recovering after an alleged stabbing in New York City.

N.Y.C. resident Orly Nhaissi told the New York Post that she and her 13-year-old son, Elijah Sherinsky, were walking their dog in Union Square at around 7 p.m. local time on Friday, Dec. 26, when a man jabbed their 1-year-old dog, Hazel, with a knife.

“He stabbed Hazel, right there in her butt,” Elijah told the Post. “I thought at first it was a vape [that he jabbed her with]. But then I realized it was this pink sheath, black blade. It was a little bigger, I think, than a pocket knife but not a kitchen knife.”

Elijah said the man smiled after the attack and ran off. “I thought he was going to stab me, but he didn’t,” he added.

The teen told the outlet he tried to chase the man but stopped when his mother called him back. They rushed Hazel to their building’s lobby, where Nhaissi said the dog was already “bleeding a lot.”

“The blood was gushing in the lobby,” she recalled, adding that their doorman helped with paper towels and a rag to slow the bleeding. Neighbors then took Hazel to a nearby pet hospital for emergency surgery.

“It’s really devastating,” Nhaissi added. “We’re lucky that he didn’t harm us, but it just kills me. Who stabs a dog, you know?”

A spokesperson for the New York City Police Department (NYPD) said officers responded to a 911 call reporting animal cruelty near the intersection of E. 14 Street and 5 Avenue around 9 p.m. on Friday.

“There are no arrests at this time, and the investigation remains ongoing,” the spokesperson said.

As for Hazel, the Post reported that she underwent a surgery that lasted several hours to close the wound and returned home around 2 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 27. The family said the procedure cost $3,200.

Photos shared with the outlet showed Hazel with stitches near the injury, bandages around her torso, and a bag collecting blood draining through a tube.

The family said Hazel is expected to recover in about three months, but they’re still shaken by what happened.

“This is our first dog,” Orly’s husband, Joe Sherinsky, said. “She’s the best. She’s pure joy.”