Indian police arrested a YouTuber after he posted a video showing his pet dog floating in the air with helium balloons tied to its collar, The BBC reported Friday.
Gaurav Sharma, 32, has been charged under Sections 188, 269, 34 of India's Animal Cruelty Act.
The complaint was filed after the animal welfare group People For Animals (PFA) raised the issue to the authorities.
Sharma shot a video showing his dog "Dollar" strapped to balloons, which he then lets go off as the pet starts to float in the air. Someone in the balcony of the second floor of a building catches the dog a few seconds later.
32-year old Youtuber, Gaurav Sharma, resident of Panchsheel Vihar has been arrested for tying helium balloons to his dog and later making it fly. He told the police that he is a youtuber and the made the video to upload it on his page. The video was shot on May 21. pic.twitter.com/nrOUe9hLjb — Sakshi Chand (@sakshichand8TOI) May 27, 2021
The police said the video has been removed now. However, after drawing immediate flak for the video, Sharma uploaded another, this one with apologies.
"I'm also a pet lover.. I got influenced by seeing some videos from outside. I apologize for that and I will appeal to all of those watching to not get influence by my video," Mint quoeted the YouTuber as saying.
According to NewsHub, Sharma, whose YouTube channel goes by the name Gauravzone, has 4.15 million subscribers.
"Please do not take it wrong. When we fly Dollar, we take all safety precautions," he said in the now-deleted video.
Sharma has been detained after risking an animal's life by making the video, Atul Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police for South Delhi, said.
