YouTuber Brooke Houts will not be charged with animal cruelty following police investigation

20-year-old allowed to keep custody of dog during investigation 

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Tuesday 03 September 2019 19:57 BST
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Youtuber Brooke Houts beats and spits on her dog

YouTube star Brooke Houts will not be charged with animal abuse following a police investigation into footage of her pushing and slapping her Doberman.

Last month, Houts faced widespread backlash after she uploaded uncut footage that showed her hitting and yelling at the dog, prompting the Los Angeles Police Department’s animal cruelty task force to launch an investigation.

However, the LAPD has since determined that there is not enough evidence to support criminal charges, TMZ reports, and the case will soon be closed.

“Animal Task Force looked into the matter - obviously they saw the video the public had seen,” an LAPD spokesperson told BuzzFeed. “They determined it didn’t rise to the level of animal cruelty.”

During the investigation, Houts was allowed to maintain custody of Sphinx, who regularly appears in her YouTube videos.

Following the accusations of animal cruelty, Houts released a lengthy statement in which she apologised and attempted to defend her actions.

“Should I have gotten as angry as I did in the video? No. Should I have raised my voice and yelled at him? No. However, when my 75 lb. Doberman is jumping up in my face with his mouth open, I do, as a dog parent, have to show him that this behaviour is unacceptable. But I want to make it known, REGARDLESS of what my dog does, I should not have acted that way towards him,” she wrote in-part.

Houts also said that in her “heart” she knows “that I am a great dog mom”.

At the time, Peta condemned Houts’ behaviour, writing on Twitter: “Dogs deserve respect. If you can’t treat dogs with kindness and instead hit them, don’t get one. Attention YouTube, please remove Brooke Houts from your platform.”

The LAPD will reportedly reopen the case if new evidence is presented.

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