A YouTuber in India has been arrested after attaching helium balloons to his pet dog in an attempt to make it fly for a video, according to a BBC report.
Police in India arrested the YouTuber, identified as Gaurav Sharma, after receiving complaints from People for Animals, an animal welfare organisation.
The Times Of India reported that Gaurav first uploaded the video on May 21 under the title “Flying Dollar (dog’s name) with helium gas balloons”.
Gaurav and a companion can be seen testing how to make the dog fly with helium balloons tied to its body at a park. He then attempted to see if the helium balloons can lift the dog up higher into the balcony of a nearby building.
After receiving backlash from viewers, Gaurav has removed the video and issued an apology saying he had “taken all safety measures” while recording the video with his dog.
Gaurav also appealed to others to not replicate the actions in his much-criticised video. He added that he was influenced by other YouTubers who have also uploaded videos of themselves performing the same stunt, according to the Times of India.
An Indian Express report stated that Gaurav was released after his arrest as it was a “bailable offence”. He told police that he was a YouTuber who recorded the video just for his channel, which currently has more than four million subscribers.
He has also posted a number of other videos featuring his dog Dollar, depicting such experiences as taking the dog to the hospital during an emergency situation and what happened when it ran away.
Gaurav has set up an Instagram page for the dog where it has accumulated more than 200,000 followers. The latest posting on the page has been met with some negative comments by some users who accused Gaurav of animal abuse after the release of his helium balloon video.
YouTubers have come under fire for posting content that put animals at risk. A three-month investigation by animal welfare charity Lady Freethinker claimed to have identified over 2,000 videos where animals were put under distress for entertainment purposes, according to a Guardian report in 2020.
The charity urged the platform to remove all videos that feature elements of animal cruelty and to hold the channels involved accountable.
