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YouTuber Arrested For Tying Balloons To His Dog & Floating Him Away

Written by: Molly Weinfurter
Molly Weinfurter is a writer for iHeartDogs, and she’s passionate about helping animals in need. She volunteers for Bailing Out Benji and a local dog rescue.Read more
| Published on June 7, 2021

A lot of YouTube videos focus on making as much money as possible. To attract viewers, they need to come up with unique and funny content. Yet, some YouTubers find things funny that are the opposite of a joke.

When Gaurav Sharma uploaded a video of himself tying balloons to his Pomeranian and forcing him to float, fans were furious. Sharma laughed throughout the whole video, but now, he’s been arrested for animal cruelty. Putting an animal at risk will never be funny, especially for YouTube content.

YouTuber cradling Pomeranian
Image: @dollarzone_official/Instagram

YouTube Video Tragedy

Sharma has over 4 million followers on YouTube. His videos are mostly about exploring India, but like all YouTubers, he tries to do something unique now and then. In this case, that was a terrible decision.

In a recent video, Sharma and his dog Dollar are testing out a theory, similar to one in the Disney movie Up. Except this study only puts poor Dollar in danger. Sharma and his mom tie balloons to the confused Pomeranian. They keep adding balloons until the pup floats off the ground.

First, Sharma and his mom show off the dog floating slightly above the ground. They laugh and gasp as the dog struggles in mid-air. Then, in a later shot, the Pomeranian has over a dozen balloons tied around him. Sharma lets go of the dog and watches him float up to the second-story balcony of a nearby building. He continues to laugh as the dog barks in horror.

YouTuber making dog float
Image: Screenshot, Legend CA YouTube

Shortly after the video was released, it drew concern from dog lovers all over the world. Police arrested Sharma for endangering a dog’s life. His mom is also facing charges since she was in on the video.

Dogs Deserve Better

Sharma has since taken down the video and issued an apology video instead. Yet, some of his apologies sound more like excuses for his abusive actions, so dog lovers still aren’t happy.

“I admit my mistake, but I personally had taken all the safety measures before flying the video,” said Sharma. “I love my pet like my child. It was the wrong content that has gone out I am also a pet lover. I got influenced by seeing some video from outside. I apologize for that and I will appeal to all of those watching to not get influence by my video.”

Mother holding Pomeranian
Image: @dollarzone_official/Instagram

After getting arrested, Sharma was quickly released on bail. It is unclear if Dollar is still with him, but the dog deserves much more love and respect than what was shown in the video. Tying dogs to balloons has become a popular video trend in other countries, but it’s a clear case of animal cruelty.

Dogs are loving family members, not puppets. So, social media stars need to stop putting them in danger for profit. Luckily, some YouTubers do the right thing and use their fame to help dogs instead.

Watch the horrifying footage here. WARNING: Content might be disturbing for some viewers.

H/T: nypost.com
Featured Image: Screenshot, Legend CA YouTube

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