A dog owner accused of animal abuse has spoken about what really happened and explained how he was just trying to get his pet to safety.
On Wednesday (July 8), dashcam footage appearing to show a dog owner in Meanwood throwing their dog from the side of the road was circulating on social media.
Since the publication of our story on the video, the owner has got in touch with Leeds Live.
He has explained that although there was a definite "error in judgement" when it came to not putting his dog on a lead, he was protecting the dog's life rather than acting in an abusive manner.
He wrote: "We walk with her at heel as she's well trained, unfortunately she had strayed from my side towards the road and as I instructed her to heel she went down and rolled.
"This is a common thing for spaniels to do and the only way I could get her from the road was to pull at her collar. Not once did I hit her as claimed.
"My priority was to prevent her from rolling into the road. How the driver could make an assertion that I was hitting her or abusing my dog whilst she was driving I find hard to comprehend.
"I made a error in judgement by not putting her on the lead, but as already stated she is used to walking at heel. As with many things, what one person sees is often different from the reality of the situation.
"My dog is well cared for and well trained, but as with anything, things happen that are out of the ordinary."
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