Delhi Youtuber arrested for posting video of his ‘flying’ dog

A Delhi-based Youtuber, who made his pet dog “fly” by tying it to a bunch of helium balloons and then posted a video of the act, was arrested after an NGO accused him of cruelty towards the animal, the Delhi Police said on Thursday

A Delhi-based Youtuber, who made his pet dog “fly” by tying it to a bunch of helium balloons and then posted a video of the act, was arrested after an NGO accused him of cruelty towards the animal, the Delhi Police said on Thursday.

Gaurav Sharma acknowledged that he was influenced by the foreign videos of dogs being tied to helium balloons. Courtesy- YouTube

The 27-year-old Youtuber, Gaurav Sharma, runs a channel named GAURAVZONE and has 4.15 million followers. Once this particular video began drawing criticism, he pulled it down and posted another video apologising for his act and explaining that he took the necessary precautions to keep his pet safe.

“Sharma was arrested after being booked under the Disaster Management Act and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,” said Atul Kumar Thakur, deputy commissioner of police (south). Since the offence was bailable, Sharma was released on bail soon after his arrest on Wednesday.

The trend of uploading videos of small dogs tied to helium balloons is prevalent in some other countries. While they usually draw a lot of clicks, they are also criticised for being cruel to the animals.

In the apology video, Sharma acknowledged that he was influenced by the foreign videos.

Last Friday, he and his mother took their brown Pomeranian, named Dollar, to a shop to buy hydrogen balloons. In the video, Sharma explained that he preferred hydrogen as helium balloons were more expensive.

In any case, the video showed that Sharma got his dog tied to a bunch of balloons before taking it to a park. The dog appeared to be finding it difficult to stay on the ground while running in the park.

When it was suspended in the air to make it fly, the dog was seen throwing its limbs around.

Another scene showed Sharma climbing atop a car and then letting the dog fly.

The dog appeared to float a few metres, reaching up to the second floor of a building, while ramming into the railing of a balcony in the process. The video was uploaded on Saturday, drawing lakhs of views and severe criticism.

On Sunday, the video was taken down and Sharma posted another video to explain why he pulled down the original. He pointed out that he told his viewers that safety precautions were taken to keep the dog safe.