India YouTuber Arrested for ‘Flying’ Pet Dog With Helium Balloons for Video

A 27-year-old YouTuber in the Indian capital New Delhi has been arrested by police after he uploaded a video to his “GauravZone” channel that showed his pet dog floating in the air with helium balloons tied to his collar, police said.

In the video shot on May 21, Gaurav Sharma can be seen with his pet dog, named Dollar, being set loose while strapped to a bunch of balloons before being released and flying through the air.

Dollar can then be seen colliding with a balcony before a neighbor catches the dog.

Following an uproar by civil society groups and animal rights organizations, Sharma – who has some 4.15 million subscribers to his YouTube channel – was arrested and charged with various offenses, including animal cruelty for risking his pet dog’s life to produce the video.

In a video uploaded shortly after the incident, Sharma posted another video where he apologized for the act.

“I admit my mistake, but I personally had taken all the safety measures before flying the video,” Sharma said. ”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,” he continued. “I apologize for that and I will appeal to all of those watching to not get influence by my video.”

Atul Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) for south Delhi said Sharma has been detained after risking an animal’s life by filming a video. He said:

He has been arrested on the charges of animal cruelty by risking the pet dog’s life via video making.