A North Carolina man viciously attacked a family’s dog, stabbing it repeatedly until it died in an unprovoked attack while its owner was playing pickleball, officials said.
James Wesley Henry, 43, was arrested for the killing of the mixed-breed pooch named Beignet at an Asheville park Monday afternoon and charged with felony cruelty to animals, Asheville police said.
Henry allegedly walked up to the helpless 11-year-old pup, grabbed it by the throat and slashed it with a knife over and over again, cops said.
“The guy killed the dog with a knife, basically eviscerating it,” Asheville Police Capt. Michael Lamb told the Asheville Watchdog.
Beignet’s owner Liesbeth Mackie told the publication that she brought her dog with her to Weaver Park and secured her on a long leash in a shady spot a few feet away from the pickleball court.
Mackie and other players heard a man in the park acting erratically and shouting angrily to himself but let him be since he was alone and not yelling at any person in particular.
Minutes later, Mackie’s pickleball partner saw the man — later identified as Herny — attacking her dog.
“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.”
However, Henry was reportedly holding a knife in his fist.
“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.”
Hulin and a couple of other witnesses to the ruthless attack chased Henry as he began to casually, but quickly, walk away, according to the nonprofit publication. They saw him drop a knife as they followed him a safe distance away.
Police arrived at the scene and Herny surrendered without issue, the Watchdog reported.
Henry is being held in the Buncombe County Detention Facility on $10,000 bond.
The family is heartbroken over the heinous murder of Beignet.
“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.”
The devastated dog mom is also concerned over growing crime and safety issues in the area.
“It’s so random — that’s when it becomes scary,” Mackie told the Watchdog. “Are we still safe to bring our dogs to pickleball?”
Her husband Tom Mackie, who had named Beignet after the pastry famous in his hometown of New Orleans, slammed the Asheville mayor and local government — claiming they have his dog’s blood on their hands.
“Asheville is no longer safe,” he 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.”
