NEW YORK CITY — A man stabbed a pit bull to death following a quarrel with the dog’s owner in New York City’s Central Park, officials said.

The seriously injured dog was transported to a local animal clinic, where he was euthanized after the stabbing Saturday evening, police said.

According to the New York Daily News, an argument broke out between the man and the woman when the assailant’s unleashed dog began biting at the woman’s pit bull. As she tried to separate the dogs, the man pulled out a switchblade and stabbed the pit bull mix.

“The German Shepherd Pit Bull-mix gets along with my dogs great,” said Rodney Mendoza, who says his two dogs were very friendly with the dog that was stabbed. “They play together, they run together, every day.”

“It made me start to cry when I heard about it this morning,” said dog owner Madison Ritter. “Just because I think about how much I love my dog and if somebody did that to him, I don’t know what I’d even do. I feel so horrible for them.”

No arrests were made as of Sunday. An investigation was ongoing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.