A popular Youtuber is being investigated by police after she uploaded a video of her abusing her dog.
Brooke Houts has been getting blasted on social media after she uploaded a prank video on Youtube where she hits and spits on her dog. Houts has responded to the backlash saying it is only a prank, but the LAPD are reportedly looking into the video as possible animal abuse, BuzzFeed News reports.
The video in question was shared earlier this week, after some of Houts’s nearly 340,000 subscribers realized she may have uploaded an incomplete version of her “plastic wrap prank on my Doberman” video. According to some viewers, a first upload of the video showed Hout’s hitting, shoving, and spitting on her dog.
The video has since been deleted after an edited version was uploaded with its comments disabled. But the damage was already done after popular YouTuber Keemstar posted it on Wednesday.
SHOCKING! YouTuber @brookehouts uploads a unedited wrong video file to her channel! The Unedited version shows her ABUSING HER DOG! pic.twitter.com/3dKE3DvQVL
— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) August 7, 2019
After the footage went viral, it caught the attention of the LAPD’s Animal Cruelty Task Force.
“LAPD is aware of this incident. Animal Cruelty is looking into this, and there is an open investigation,” a representative for the police department told BuzzFeed News.
Houts released a statement on Tuesday where she denied the animal abuse allegations and addressed her fans’ concern for her dog.
“I want to clarify that I am NOT a dog abuser or animal abuser in any way, shape or form,” she stated. “Anyone who has witnessed or heard true animal abuse will be able to clearly see that.”
In discussing what she called “uncut footage,” Houts said that she was upset during filming and had been “playing up [her] mood in the video.”
To everyone who has been commenting on my social media as of recently: pic.twitter.com/gnxUbfVHdf
— b (@brookehouts) August 7, 2019
“In my heart and from the words of the people that spend the most time with me, I know that I am a great dog mom,” she wrote, describing all the ways she “spoil[s]” her doberman, like giving him treats and ordering him toys.
“This does not make my actions in the footage okay, but I’m just explaining what my day-to-day life is really like, whether you believe me or not,” she added.
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