LAPD Says YouTuber Brooke Houts Can Keep Her Dog After Video Surfaces

YouTube star Brooke Houts is the subject of a police investigation over a video that appears to show her abusing her Doberman. (@brookehouts/Twitter via CNN)

Warning: The footage below might be disturbing for some viewers. Please watch at your own risk.

YouTube vlogger Brooke Houts accidentally uploaded a video depicting her apparently engaging in animal abuse.

According to TMZ, she is being allowed to keep her dog, and the Los Angeles Police Department’s animal cruelty division said that it is not in any immediate danger.

Houts was slammed after posting the video, appeared to show her hitting, spitting on, and shoving her Doberman, named Sphinx.

According to Entertainment Tonight, she appeared to have uploaded the video by mistake before deleting it and putting up a new, edited version of the video.

The video featured the dog running through an open door covered in saran wrap as a prank.

Later, she released a statement on Twitter and said she “not a dog abuser.”

“I am NOT a dog abuser or animal abuser in any way, shape, or form. Anyone who has witnessed or heard true animal abuse will be able to clearly see that,” she wrote. “My dog, in no way, shape, or form was hurt by any action that I displayed in this video.”

“I want to make it known that regardless of what my dog does, I should not have acted that way towards him,” Houts added.

She has about 338,000 YouTube subscribers and has generated millions of views.

Animal welfare group PETA issued a statement about the matter, saying that people who upload videos or photos of themselves abusing animals should be permanently banned from platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

“One day of outrage before the public moves on to the next scandal isn’t enough to stop streamers from hurting animals,” PETA’s Vice President Joel Bartlett wrote, according to Entertainment Tonight. “These people need to know that they’ll no longer get the ‘likes,’ followers, and subscribers they’re so desperate for if they harm a hair on an animal’s head, and PETA is calling for a zero-tolerance policy for animal abusers across all social media platforms.”