Tweets by YouTube creator Brooke Houts, who has been accused of abusing her dog, reveal the 20-year-old has a history of being frustrated by her pet’s behaviour.
On Wednesday, Houts posted a video to her YouTube channel that she claims was supposed to be a prank showing her dog running into plastic wrap.
However, the YouTuber incorrectly uploaded unedited footage to her 335,000 subscribers which appeared to show her hitting, pushing and shouting at her Doberman, Sphinx, who regularly features in her videos.
After receiving numerous complaints, the LAPD’s Animal Cruelty Task Force has announced it is launching an investigation into the footage.
Tweets written by Houts in the last few months reveal that she has previously expressed her exasperation with Sphinx.
“LIKE WHY DID UOU HAVE TO EAT MY $100 LEGGINGS. IT COULD’VE BEEN ANY OTHER PAIR. WHY. W H Y [sic],” Houts tweeted in July.
In January, the YouTuber revealed Sphinx had urinated on her bed.
“My dog..... peed on my bed..... for the 3rd time in the past 2 weeks,” Houts wrote, adding in a subsequent tweet: “also why do dogs like to hit u in the face with their chonker paws [sic]”.
Following the backlash over the unedited footage, Twitter users have commented on Houts’s old tweets, expressing sympathy for her pet dog.
On Wednesday, Houts has issued a statement on Twitter in which she apologised to anyone who had been negatively affected by the footage.
The YouTuber explained things in her life had been “less than exceptional” when the video was filmed and later defended part of her behaviour based on the fact that her dog weighs 75 pounds.
“When he is jumping up in my face with his mouth open, I, as a dog parent, have to show him that this behaviour is unacceptable,” Houts explained.
Despite her actions in the video, she added that she is not a dog abuser.
“But I want to make it known, REGARDLESS of what my dog does, I should not have acted that way towards him,” Houts added.
