A man who allegedly angrily chucked his ex-girlfriend's 12-year-old pug off the seventh floor balcony of her Queens apartment has been charged with animal cruelty, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced Thursday.
Yuk Cheung of Fresh Meadows was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals for the senseless killing of the female pug, Brown said. He was arraigned Wednesday, and bail was set at $10,000.
If convicted, the 35-year-old faces up to two years in prison.
"Such acts of aggression towards defenseless animals cannot -- and will not -- be tolerated in Queens County," said Brown.
Cheung and his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Chan, allegedly argued about who would care for the dog Friday evening, prosecutors say. According to police, he picked up the dog and tossed her from the balcony of Chan's seventh floor apartment in Flushing before he walked back inside empty-handed.
The dog fell 70 feet to her death and Cheung fled the scene, authorities said.
He allegedly told his ex-girlfriend Tuesday that the pug had slipped, Brown said. When authorities questioned him about the dog's death, he told detectives he tripped while walking onto the balcony and the dog escaped from his hands.
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Cheung later changed his story to say the pug leapt out of his arms and went through the balcony's metal railing. Prosecutors said he found the animal dead on the street, stuffed her in an ice-filled box and dumped the remains in a nearby trash bin.
According to a criminal complaint, he allegedly had to have thrown the dog 40 feet into the air for her body to have landed six feet from the curb.
Cheung's next court appearance is scheduled for April 4.
