A dog fell 43 stories to his death Wednesday morning, dropping from the same Chicago high-rise apartment where a cat fell and died just three days earlier.
Even more tragically, the pets belonged to the same family: The cat to a 26-year-old tenant moving out of the building at 360 E. South Water St. and the dog to his mother, stepfather and sister who were visiting from out of town.
The Rottweiler-Shar Pei mix named Duke fell from the building around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, the Tribune reports. Police were called to the scene and the building's doorman reportedly recognized it from a 43rd floor apartment.
The two-month old kitten named Oak fell to its death Sunday.
A woman and her boyfriend were walking their dog early Wednesday when the boyfriend saw the falling dog hit the pavement in front of the building where it landed on its side and died instantly.
“He can’t get the vision out of his head, or the sound,” the woman told CBS Chicago. “He’s pretty torn up about it. I’ve never really seen him like this before.”
After the grim string of events, Chicago police originally were investigating charges of animal cruelty, NBC Chicago reports. The CPD ultimately decided not to press charges in the incidents, calling both of the animals' deaths accidental.
“Police were questioning and threatening to arrest me,” said the tenant, who asked the Sun-Times to only identify him as Ryan. “Slowly but surely they, thank God, they believed what I told them.”
Ryan said he believes his cat was likely scared by the dog and fell. "I’m assuming one of them got skittish, went on the edge and just kind of jumped when they saw it through a glass window,” he told the Sun-Times, noting his two cats had never seemed in danger on the balcony before.
As for the dog, Ryan said his family was out running errands and he was in another apartment when the animal fell. Ryan said chairs were left on the balcony and “It created a ladder that no one was thinking of.”
Despite the accidental nature of the deaths, some residents of the building, such as Gwen Sylvain, told CBS they don’t see how it is possible for two animals to fall from the same balcony in three days.
“It’s tragic. I am heartbroken," Sylvain said. "I have cried my heart out about that, because I saw that dog."
According to CBS, Ryan said he is so "heartsick," he hasn’t eaten since the kitten died Sunday.