Police Investigates Video of Man Tossing Terrified Dog Off Cliff in UK

A picture of a dog in the water. (Lisa Baker/Pexels)

Police are investigating a case of animal cruelty coming across a video of a person tossing a dog off a cliff in Falmouth, Cornwall.

The video that surfaced online shows a young man throwing a dog over a cliff and into the sea below, while the person who filmed it does nothing but laughs as the dog is hurled off the cliff, according to reports. In the video, the terrified dog is seen flailing in the air before it falls into the water.

The dog was seen swimming to shore, although the video ends before the dog reaches the shore.

The video was originally posted on Snapchat and was widely shared. Members of the public were shocked at the cruelty, and the video has since been deleted from social media. According to The Daily Mail, Facebook users who have seen the video criticized it and slammed both the person in the video and the one filming it.

One user wrote, “I hope the RSPCA have got involved. Absolutely disgusting.”

The Falmouth & Helston Police posted a statement about the incident on their Facebook page. According to Cornwall Live, a police spokesman said they were aware of this incident and that investigations were underway.

“Police are investigating a report of concern for the welfare of an animal in Falmouth on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 1,” the police spokesman said. “This relates to a dog being thrown into the sea.”

There had been rumor circulating online that the dog needed to be euthanized because it had broken its back after being tossed off the cliff and into the water, but the police have verified that the dog was fine and well.

“The dog has been checked over and is uninjured,” the police spokesman said.

The spokesman said members of the public should not make assumptions based on what they see. They said added people should not “speculate around the circumstance of this incident, or the individual involved.” Some people have posted the name of the suspect online, and police have advised people against taking any sort of action to allow the investigators to do their job.

A spokeswoman for the RSPCA said that they were made aware of the footage that had been circulating online and would look into it, just as the police are doing.

The Falmouth Police wrote in a tweet saying that they have identified the suspects and will be continuing to working with the RSPCA on the case.

Animal Cruelty Laws

The United Kingdom was the first country in the world to put the law to implement animal protection laws, according to BBC. In 1822, the parliament passed an act that would prevent the cruel treatment of cattle. The first general animal protection law was introduced in 1911 and had gone through various changes since then.

The Protection of Animals Act was replaced with the Animal Welfare Act to include animal abuses and similar scenarios and was implemented fully in England and Wales in 2007.

In addition, according to The Independent, under a new law, people who abuse animals will face a much steeper punishment—with up to five years in prison. Before these stricter laws were in place to prevent cruelty to animals, people often only faced six months for their actions.

According to Environment Secretary Michael Gove, the new rules were necessary to combat the cruelty of animals.

This new legislation would also be enforced on gangs whose activities revolve around organized dog fighting, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The sentencing will largely depend on the severity of the case, according to the news outlet, and under this new legislation, the courts could hand out unlimited bans, disallowing animal abusers to own or raise pets.

“We are a nation of animals lovers and so we must ensure that those who commit the most shocking cruelty towards animals face suitably tough punishments,” Gove said. “These plans will give courts the tools they have requested to deal with the most abhorrent acts.”

This came after courts said that an option to impose graver punishments for animal abusers would be used. One case, a man bought a number of puppies just so he could abuse them, according to The Independent.

“We now feel that those who commit these acts will soon be receiving sentences that reflect the seriousness of their crime and hope this will act as a real deterrent against cruelty and neglect,” Gove said.