By Annabelle Blair
A Fresh Meadows man received a 45-day jail sentence and five years’ probation Tuesday for killing his pug by throwing it from his girlfriend’s apartment balconyand tampering with evidence, the Queens district attorney said.
After serving his sentence, defendant Yuk Cheung, 35, must register as an animal abuser with the New York City Department of Health and will not be permitted to own a pet for five years, according to DA Richard Brown.
Cheung will not be allowed to purchase or adopt an animal from city shelters, rescue groups or pet stores due to his animal abuser status.
Yuk Cheung, 35, pleaded guilty to aggravated animal cruelty and tampering with evidence Aug. 14, before Justice Barry Kron of the Queens Supreme Court, who also sentenced him, the DA said. The incident occurred March 17 on 40th Road when Cheung went to his ex-girlfriend’s apartment to get his 12-year-old pug after moving out.
The couple argued about Cheung finding a place to stay that permitted animals, and Cheungpicked up the pug and told his girlfriend that she “would not have to worry about the dog anymore,” according to the indictment. The defendant walked onto the seventh floor balcony with the pug and returned inside without it, Brown said in describing the charges.
The Cheung later picked up the pug’s body where it laid on the street—six feet from the sidewalk where investigators revealed it had to have been thrown 40 feet through the air to clear the rooftop below.
The dog was killed when it hit the pavement below, and Cheung disposed of the body in a nearby garbage container, the DA said. Brown referred to Cheung’s action as “cruel and heartless.”
“He threw a defenseless animal to her death while in the midst of a heated exchange with his former girlfriend,” Brown said. “Jail time in this instance is more than warranted as punishment for this senseless crime.”
Reach intern Annabelle Blair by e-mail at ablai
