Exclusive | ‘Who stabs a dog?’ NYC family in shock after pup stabbed on city street
A woman and her 13‑year‑old son were walking home from Breads Bakery in Manhattan’s Union Square when a man suddenly appeared behind them and stabbed their 1‑year‑old Bernadoodle, Hazel, on the rear. The animal was rushed to BluePearl Pet Hospital for emergency surgery, and the incident is now under police investigation.
The attack happened Friday evening around 7 p.m. at the intersection of 14th Street and Union Square West. Orly Nhaissi, the dog’s owner, and her son Elijah Sherinsky were walking Hazel when the assailant yelled something and then dropped to his knees, lacing the dog with a knife. The teenager described the weapon: “I thought at first it was a vape,” he said. “But then I realized it was this pink sheath, black blade. It was a little bigger, I think, than a pocket knife but not a kitchen knife.”
Elijah tried to chase the attacker but his mother, 46, shouted at him to stay back, fearing that the man might have aimed at her. “I was yelling ‘No, No, Elijah come back!’ The mom, 46, who’s in professional development, recalled. “I thought he was going to stab me, but he didn’t,” the teen told reporters.
The owners carried Hazel back into the building lobby, only to find the dog bleeding profusely. “The blood was gushing in the lobby,” Nhaissi said. A doorman handed paper towels and a rag to her, and neighbors helped lift the animal onto a stretcher. The dog was transported to BluePearl Pet Hospital, where veterinary staff performed a multi‑hour operation to stitch the wound.
“It’s really devastating,” the mother said. “We’re lucky that he didn’t harm us, but it just kills me. Who stabs a dog, you know?” She added, “Why would anyone stab an innocent, harmless animal?” The police response to the 911 call reportedly took about two hours. “There are no cops in New York City anymore,” the worried mom complained, though she praised the officers when they arrived as “perfectly nice, when they came and helpful.”
Following surgery, Hazel was fitted with a drainage tube and a large bandage. “Hazel now wears a tube to drain blood from the wound and a large bandage,” the family reported. They said that, with their pet insurance, they had already paid $3,200 for the emergency care. The owners expect the dog to need roughly three months to fully recover.
The incident has also prompted a message from the dog’s father, Joe Sherinsky, a 47‑year‑old lawyer. “Dad Joe Sherinsky, a 47‑year‑old lawyer, had a message for the stabber: ‘Get help,’” the family said. He added, “This is our first dog. She’s the best. She’s pure joy.”
Detectives are working on the case, the spokesman for the New York Police Department said, but the motive behind the attacker’s act remains unclear. The investigation is ongoing.
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