Two dogs are in “good health” after a video went viral of a woman throwing one of them through the air, city officials confirmed. Long Beach police are investigating the incident, which occurred near Downtown.
The video, which has been circulating on social media, shows a woman in a vacant lot holding a white dog by the collar. Seconds later, the dog is violently thrown toward a fence.
Authorities did not provide an exact date or location for the incident, but a Long Beach resident close to the situation who asked to remain anonymous said it happened Christmas Day near Cerritos Avenue and Seventh Street.
Watchdog reporters used surrounding landmarks to determine the lot is in the 1000 block of East Chanda Street.
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The source, who has received threats online since taking in the dogs following the incident, said the dogs’ owner died last month.
That’s when a few friends stepped up to help the dog owner’s daughter, identified only as Sarah, to care for the pets while they worked to find them a permanent home.
The pitbull, Harmony, and the smaller white dog, Biscuit, were being cared for Christmas morning, the source said. But the daughter had to leave, and temporarily left them under the care of the person in the video, identified by multiple sources online as a woman named Sam.
Harmony, who appeared to be unable to walk in the initial video, actually has a severe case of mange. The pitbull regularly lays on her belly to scratch herself, according to the anonymous source.
The dogs were relinquished to Long Beach Animal Care Services.
“The dogs were taken to one of our partner veterinarians for care and evaluation,” LBACS Bureau Manager Melanie Wagner said in an email Saturday. “As of this morning, the dogs were considered in good health.”
The dogs were returned to the anonymous source, who said they are working to find a new home for the dogs.
“I’ve been communicating with a couple people who are great candidates,” they said in an Instagram message Saturday.
The Long Beach Police Department, meanwhile, said it is investigating the incident.
“The preliminary investigation indicates that the reporting party located video footage showing dogs being abused by a female suspect,” an LBPD spokesperson said. The department did not confirm the woman’s identity.
The Kris Kelly Foundation, a nonprofit that works to save animals from “abuse, slaughter, and neglect,” published the video on their Facebook page Thursday after the original owner of the video had deleted a post showing the graphic incident.
Since then, the foundation has publicly condemned both Sam and Sarah. The foundation did not respond to a request for comment.
Video posted on The Kris Kelly Foundation Facebook page shows people with the nonprofit at an apartment near the vacant lot confronting the women.
Sam, the abuser, fled the area on foot, the video shows. Foundation social media posts allege Sarah is complicit in the abuse.
The anonymous source, however, says Sarah wasn’t aware of the abuse inflicted on the dogs.
“The whole situation has been blown out of proportion,” the source told the Watchdog. “I’m just trying to help my friend because she’s a really good person and would never hurt an animal.”
On the other hand, the source continued, Sam shouldn’t “be around animals and probably not any people.”
The building’s property manager, Shawn Vannoy, said both women and a few others have been squatting at the apartment complex for quite some time.
Vannoy said he tried to kick them out, but that California’s squatters’ rights laws have made it difficult. In addition, a maintenance worker at the complex keeps letting the people back in, he added.
Sam, he said, has caused other issues in the past. He described a situation a few months ago where she almost hit a child with a glass bottle.
Vannoy said that Sarah has been caring for the two dogs since the death of her dad, but added that the women can barely take care of themselves, let alone the animals.
Though he hasn’t known Sarah for long, she doesn’t seem like the type to abuse animals, Vannoy said, adding that she also cares for cats around the area.
“I know [she’s] been trying to take care of the dogs as best as she can,” Vannoy said. “She loved her dad.”
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