An Indian YouTuber is facing charges for sending his dog up as high as two stories by attaching balloons to it in a now-deleted video.
Gaurav Sharma, who has over 4.15 million subscribers on YouTube, was arrested Thursday after the animal rights group People for Animals filed a report with Delhi Police.
“He told us he is a YouTuber and made the video for his channel,” said Atul Kumar Thakur, Delhi’s southern deputy commissioner of police.
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Sharma was charged under India’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, and the offense is punishable by fines, Thakur said.
Sharma can be seen attaching a bundle of helium balloons to his dog, Dollar, continuing to add balloons until the Pomeranian was able to fly, the video, obtained by the Indian Express, showed.
#JUSTIN: A 32-year-old YouTuber arrested from South Delhi’s Malviya Nagar on the charges for cruelty to animal. During questioning, he told the police that he is a youtuber and he made this video for that purpose only – said DCP (South) Atul Thakur. @IndianExpress, @ieDelhi pic.twitter.com/XX6uiEdKVW
— Mahender Singh Manral (@mahendermanral) May 27, 2021
The dog floated up as high as two stories at one point in the video. Dollar appeared to be suspended by at least 10 balloons, the video showed.
Sharma took down the May 21 video and uploaded an apology to YouTube.
“I am also a pet lover. … I got influenced by seeing some video from outside. I apologize for that, and I will appeal to all of those watching to not get influence by my video,” Sharma said, according to the Hindustan Times.
The dog appeared to be safe and healthy, the apology video showed.
Sharma took safety precautions while filming the video, but he did not show them on camera, he said.
The YouTuber received comments telling him he should have made a video detailing the safety precautions rather than issuing the apology, the Hindustan Times reported.
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Sharma is out on bail, Thakur said.
