A grainy downtown Austin balcony clip has neighbors up in arms and a senior dog now out of the apartment and in the hands of animal responders, after video of a man striking the animal rocketed across social media and landed on police radar.
Neighbors who recorded the encounter pushed the nearly two-minute video onto social platforms, where it drew rapid outrage and demands that officers step in. Animal responders have since taken custody of the dog while investigators sort through the footage and witness accounts.
As reported by the Austin American-Statesman, the video was first posted to Reddit on Sunday afternoon and shows a man repeatedly pinning a dog against a balcony railing with patio furniture and striking it with a towel and then a belt. According to the Statesman, Austin police removed the dog from a downtown apartment and opened an animal-cruelty investigation. Police had not released the man’s identity and, as of that report, no arrests had been made.
Neighbors Say Viral Clip Forced Officials’ Hand
In an update on Reddit, the original poster said officers returned to the building multiple times and that the dog, identified in comments as “Boone” and described as a senior animal, was ultimately seized and transported to Austin Pets Alive for a veterinary exam. The poster said neighbors quickly stepped up with offers to foster the dog and credited the visibility of the clip with helping push the response along…