A Fresh Meadows man has pleaded guilty to throwing his ex-girlfriend’s pug to its death off of a balcony back in March.
Yuk Cheung, 35, of Parsons Boulevard, pleaded guilty on Aug. 14 to aggravated cruelty to animals and tampering with evidence. He is due to return for sentencing on Sept. 25, where Justice Barry A. Kron stated he will sentence Cheung to 45 days in prison and five years of probation.
Cheung is also banned from owning pets for five years and will be required to register with the city Department of Health as an animal abuser following the completion of his incarceration, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. The animal abuser registration will prevent city shelters, rescue groups and/or pet stores from allowing Cheung to purchase or adopt a pet.
According to the charges, Cheung had originally moved out of his ex-girlfriend’s residence in Flushing and left the 12-year-old female pug in her care. Cheung returned on March 17 and got into an argument about who would care for the dog at around 7:30 p.m.
During the argument, Cheung’s ex-girlfriend told him that he would need to find a place to live that would allow dogs. The defendant stated in response that she “would not have to worry about the dog anymore.” He proceeded to pick up the dog and went out to the seventh floor balcony. When he came back inside, the dog was no longer in his arms. When asked by his ex-girlfriend what had happened to the dog, Cheung said that she slipped from his arms.
The pug was killed when it hit the pavement below. Cheung then picked up the pug, placed her in a box with ice and dumped the remains in a nearby garbage receptacle.
When speaking to police on March 21, Cheung changed his story and stated that the dog leaped out of his arms and must have gone through the balcony’s metal railing.
An investigation revealed that the pug had to have been propelled 40 feet through the air in order to clear a rooftop directly below the balcony and to then land on the street below six feet from the sidewalk.
Brown said, “During an argument with a former girlfriend, the defendant lashed out at a defenseless dog. The little pug was viciously thrown from a balcony and plunged seven stories to her death. As a result of this act of aggression and cruelty, the defendant is going to jail.”
