NYPD cops rescue mini poodle after vicious attack in Manhattan park
A pair of NYPD officers raced a badly abused puppy to the hospital for emergency veterinary care in an emotional Manhattan incident caught on body-worn camera.
The cops were called to Highbridge Park at W. 165th St. and Edgecombe Ave. in Washington Heights around 1:30 p.m. May 16, police said.
Once there, they spotted 1-year-old miniature poodle Rocket, whose owner had taken him by the leash, slammed his head onto concrete and threw him off an elevated ledge in the park, according to police.
Rocket was suffering from numerous injuries by the time police got there, including a traumatic brain injury, a fractured femur and severe organ damage.
One of the responding officers took Rocket into her arms and cradled him, video shows.
“Kelsey, is that dog going to live?” the officer’s colleague asked her.
“No,” she responded as she cradled Rocket. “He needs to go to the doctor. He’s breathing but he’s choking.”
The two officers got into their marked police car with Rocket and turned on the lights and sirens as they headed to a local American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals animal hospital.
“We’re gonna get there,” the officer behind the wheel said as he maneuvered around traffic. “We’re gonna get there.”
At the same time, the female officer continued to embrace the bleeding dog as the cops called ahead to the hospital.
“She threw him,” the woman said to hospital staff. “He’s in shock. He’s bleeding from the mouth. He’s breathing though. It’s shallow, but he’s breathing.”
The cops carried Rocket into the hospital in critical condition. He was transferred to an ASPCA veterinary partner to receive expert critical and neurological care, according to a spokesperson for the organization.
“He has a long road to recovery and we’re doing everything we can to help him,” the spokesperson said. “It is thanks to the quick action of the NYPD officers who came to his rescue, and the expert care of ASPCA and AMC veterinary professionals, that Rocket is still with us today.”
Rocket’s owner, 26-year-old Cleopatra Morgan of Washington Heights, was arrested and hit with animal abuse charges, criminal possession of a weapon and false impersonation after providing officers with a phony name, cops said.
