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YouTuber Brooke Houts is under investigation after she accidentally uploaded unedited video footage of her allegedly abusing her dog, Sphinx.
The video shows Houts, who has 330,000 YouTube subscribers, hitting and holding her Doberman down. A viewer managed to save the footage before it was taken down by the online personality.
A question-and-answer video filmed with her dog, in which she’s wearing the same outfit and in the same location, was reportedly uploaded the same day the aforementioned footage was taken down.
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The 20-year-old — who’s under investigation for animal abuse by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) — released a statement on Aug. 6 after deactivating her Instagram account.
“First off, I want to address the uncut footage. On the day in particular that the video was filmed… things in my outside life have been less than exceptional,” her statement, shared to Twitter, read. “That being said, this does not justify me yelling at my dog in the way that I did… However, when my 75 lb. Doberman is jumping up in my face with his mouth open, I do, as a dog parent, have to show him that this behavior is unacceptable.”
Her statement continued: “I want to clarify that I am not a dog abuser or animal abuser in any way, shape, or form… Did I get in his face and take unnecessary actions towards him? Yes I did, and that was not the way I should’ve handled the situation. Did I spit on my dog? No.”
She went on to add that her dog was not hurt by her “physically aggressive” actions and that she would not respond that way in the future when disciplining her dog.
“I want to thank you for pointing out things that you think are wrong and discussing them, because the world needs more of that,” she concluded the message. “I hope you give me the chance to prove that these statements about myself do align with my actions.”
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Houts is now under investigation by the LAPD, who told the Verge on Aug. 7: “Our Animal Cruelty Task Force has received numerous complaints about the video you’re speaking of and we are currently looking into the matter.”
As of now, YouTube has not suspended her account, though the streaming platform does prohibit videos that include or incite animal abuse.
The YouTuber recently reopened her Twitter account after disabling it following the incident, and the Twitterverse, for the most part, is not buying her apology.
“We saw her abuse her dog. She is therefore a dog abuser,” one Twitter user wrote. “Is she usually a dog abuser? I haven’t a clue. But I wouldn’t trust her with any pet or child anytime soon.”
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“That dog flinched when she points at him and she clearly kicks him at the end to make him ‘lay down,'” another person tweeted. “Agreed she shouldn’t have that dog. He was just trying to love on her and play. Some people are just too awful.”
There are no details regarding the outcome of the LAPD’s investigation as yet.
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meaghan.wray@globalnews.ca
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