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Jonathan Paluzzi, 44, of Kingston, is charged with multiple counts of felony animal cruelty and possession of a Class A drug (fentanyl), Kingston police said in a Facebook post. He is being held on a "significant bail," the post said.
Officers were called to an apartment complex on Kingston Collection Way around 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, after his neighbor heard screaming, crying, a dog whining, and then silence coming from the adjoining apartment.
They later found Paluzzi's dog with stab marks and a bent grill fork, police said. Officers also found a cigarette pack with a white powdery substance that investigators believed was fentanyl.
Police said Paluzzi couldn't find anyone to take the dog or any vet to put it down because it was healthy. A preliminary investigation found that he first tried to poison Brutus with fentanyl, and after that failed, he stabbed the animal with the fork before leaving his apartment. Investigators found the bent prong near the body.
Paluzzi returned to the apartment while officers were there with blood around his fingernails, police said.
Kingston police are working with the MSPCA and other agencies to perform necropsy and toxicology tests on Brutus' body to determine what the animal endured before dying.
"The hideous nature of this case has the undivided attention of the assigned investigators," Kingston police said.
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