YouTube Star Brooke Houts Being Investigated by LAPD After Dog Abuse Video Goes Viral

The Los Angeles Police Department has launched an investigation into YouTube star Brooke Houts after she accidentally uploaded video to her account allegedly showing her abusing her dog, Sphinx. The video, titled “Plastic wrap prank on my Doberman,” was uploaded to the streaming platform Tuesday and was immediately met with backlash. The LAPD has now confirmed that they are investigating.

“We received several direct messages related to a YouTube video which people believe shows animal abuse,” LAPD confirmed in a statement to Entertainment Tonight. “LAPD Animal Cruelty Task Force has received numerous complaints related to the same video and are looking into the matter.”

In the footage, an unedited version of the video that was uploaded by mistake, shared with her more than 300,000 subscribers, Houts could be seen yelling at and slapping her. She also spit on Sphinx several times. Although the video was taken down shortly after its upload, Houts faced fierce backlash and issued a statement addressing the controversy on Tuesday.

In the lengthy statement, Houts explained that “things in my outside life have been less than exceptional” and that “I am rarely as upset was what was shown in the footage.” She added that she was “not going to play the ‘victim card’” and that “this does NOT justify” her actions in the video.

“I want to clarify that I am NOT a dog abuser or animal abuser in any way, shape, or form,” she added. “Anyone who has witnessed or heard true animal abuse will be able to clearly see that. My dog, in no way, shape, or form was hurt by any action that I displayed in this video.”

She went on to deny spitting on her dog, writing, “Did I get in his face and take unnecessary actions towards him? Yes I did, and that was not the way I should’ve handled the situation.”

“Anyone who knows me personally knows I have an immense love for animals, including my own,” she concluded. “I would never do anything to purposefully physically or mentally harm any animal. Again, I should NOT have yelled at him or have been as physically aggressive as I was, and I’m fully aware of that. He was not hurt, nor has he ever been purposefully hurt by me. I know I’ll be in many future situations where he’s being physical, but I will not respond this way again.”