YouTuber posts video of dog flying with helium balloons, arrested

New Delhi: A 27-year-old YouTuber was arrested for cruelty against animals after he uploaded a video, showing his pet dog floating in the air with helium gas balloons tied to its collar, police said on Thursday.

The accused, Gaurav Sharma, who has 4.15 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, is a resident of Panchsheel Vihar in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar, they said.

In the video shot on May 21, Sharma can be seen with his pet dog in a park. The dog is strapped to a bunch of balloons and is set loose to fly.

A case was lodged against Sharma under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, the Disaster Management Act and relevant sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act on the complaint of Gaurav Gupta, a member of ‘People for Animals Society’, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said, adding the footage was deleted.

After receiving criticism for the video, the accused uploaded another one with apologies the next day.

He said that he took adequate safety measures while shooting the video featuring his pet dog, Dollar, and assured his viewers that he would not repeat it in the future.