Man kills boyfriend’s dog in jealous rage at public park

An Upper East Side man has been arrested for stabbing his boyfriend’s dog to death in front of passersby in a park.

Jose Rodriguez, 39, has been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, criminal mischief and weapons possession after a horrifying Saturday morning incident in which he stabbed his boyfriend’s small dog Buddy to death with a kitchen knife, the New York Daily News reported.

Police were called to a small park near East 78th Street and FDR Drive by parents whose children witnessed the killing, the New York Post stated in a related article.

Rodriguez was still covered in Buddy’s blood when police arrived, the Daily News added. He was arrested at the scene.

Rodriguez and his boyfriend, Randy Capehart, had been in a lovers’ quarrel, and Rodriguez suspected Capehart of cheating when Capehart had to leave town for his grandmother’s funeral in Texas, the Post reported.

Capehart had entrusted Rodriguez with caring for Buddy, a Chihuahua, while he was out of town, the Post added.

“Apparently, my former partner had a psychotic break,” Capehart said to the Post.