‘Unprovoked’ man stabs dog to death in park, police say

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WHNS/Gray News) - The Asheville Police Department said a man accused of stabbing a dog at a park was taken into custody Monday afternoon.

According to the department, officers were called to a city park on Murdock Avenue around 3:21 p.m. to investigate a report of a dog being stabbed.

The dog’s owner told officers that while playing pickleball, a man approached her dog, grabbed it by the throat and started slashing it with a knife unprovoked.

The dog died from its injuries.

Police said witnesses helped them identify the suspect, and 43-year-old James Wesley Henry was taken into custody and charged with felony cruelty to animals.

Henry was booked into the Buncombe County Detention Facility under a $10,000 secured bond.

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