Diesel’s owners say the 6-year-old Sheltie was so harmless he was afraid of thunderstorms.

And that's why they are stunned and distraught their dog was fatally stabbed in the mouth with a sharp stick Friday as horrified neighbours looked on.

York Region police said the dog was stabbed with a spike attached to a broom handle around 6 p.m. that day.

Harmony Gayne, who described her dog as loyal and full of life, said she was on her way home from school when her mother Molly called to tell her something was wrong. When Harmony got to the house she saw the dog lying lifeless on the ground with blood near his jaw.

“He was lying there dead on the grass. I came and gave (Molly) a hug,” said Harmony, 24.

Police arrested a Richmond Hill man, who they haven’t identified. He was released from custody and ordered to appear in court May 25 on charges of injuring or endangering an animal.

Eye witnesses said Molly Gayne was walking Diesel in the neighbourhood near Bayview and 19th Aves. when she and a neighbour exchanged insults after the man accused her of not keeping her dog away from him.

“The dog walked up to him in a friendly manner. But the guy poked him with a stick in the mouth. The dog was on a leash,” said a witness who asked not to be named.

The dog staggered away bleeding from the mouth, and moments later collapsed near his home, the witness said.

“It made, like a whimpering sound” after the stabbing, the witness said, adding he had seen the dog many times in the past.

The witness said the assailant was wearing sunglasses, so he couldn't see his eyes, but from the man's body language he seemed angry at the time.

Another neighbour said her father heard Molly yelling, “He just killed my dog.”

The Gayne family got Diesel from relatives in the U.S. in March 2006. The American relatives, who adopted him from a shelter, had to give him away due to allergies.

Harmony said her family didn't know the alleged assailant prior to the incident.

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Neighbours say he rents a basement apartment down the street from the Gayne family.

The owner of the home where he lives declined to comment when the Star knocked on her door.

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