A Bronx brute buried his 6-month-old pit bull in a snowbank and then beat her over the head with a shovel early Friday, police said.
The emaciated black and brown pup, Hennessy, was buried up to her neck in snow when owner Raul Cruz, 43, was seen bludgeoning her with the tool and his fists at 3 a.m., cops said.
A horrified witness called 911, and cops responded to the scene on East 167th Street in Longwood.
Officers followed Hennessey’s whimpers to the back of the building, where they found her frantically trying to dig out from under the neck-deep snow, said Sgt. Derek Mercado.
As he and another officer started shoveling away the packed snow, “[Hennessy] was helping us from the inside,” Mercado said.
According to Mercado, witnesses captured the brutal assault on video and alleged that it wasn’t the first time Cruz had beaten the young pup.
The officers brought Hennessy back to their station house, where the malnourished pooch wolfed down food.
“She gobbled it up,” Mercado said.
Hennessy was taken to an emergency animal hospital, then turned over to the ASPCA, which is providing medical treatment in Manhattan, authorities said.
Mercado said Hennessy may have a fracture in her back.
“There is no excuse for animal abuse,” Deputy Inspector Martine Materasso said through the precinct’s Twitter account.
Praising the cops and neighborhood residents, she added: “Longwood speaks for those who can’t. Hennessy is safe.”
Cruz, who has had several run-ins with the law for charges including assault, grand larceny and drugs, was arrested at the scene and charged with aggravated animal cruelty and torture for allegedly failing to feed his young pet.