YouTuber, Brooke Houts is Under Investigation for Animal Abuse After Viral Video
Brooke Houts isn’t exactly a household name. While the content creator has amassed a pretty solid following on YouTube, she isn’t on par with the most significant stars on the site. Well, she wasn’t a household name until a video she posted to her account went completely viral, but it didn’t happen the way Houts would have preferred. The video that garnered her so much attention included clips of her abusing her dog, a Doberman Pincher. The video has since been taken down, but she is now under investigation by the police.
Who is Brooke Houts?
Brooke Houts is a 20-year-old Los Angeles vlogger. She began her vlogging career in 2015 when she was just 15 years old — the majority of her content centers around comedy skits and general vlogging. Houts, for example, is heavily invested in crafting “day in the life” videos. She also utilizes popular tags to craft content.
Houts also likes to feature her dog, Sphinx in many of her videos. In fact, Sphinx is featured in several of Houts’ top performers. A video titled “a day in the life of my Doberman puppy” has over 500,000 views.
What did she do to her dog that has garnered so much attention?
Houts might have gained a following thanks to her content, but her latest video went viral when she accidentally uploaded unedited content. The unedited video showed Houts screaming, pushing, hitting, and spitting at her dog.
The video received international attention when PETA tweeted about the incident. The animal rights organization has asked YouTube to delete Houts channel entirely. Instead, the platform has taken down the video. The video did violate YouTube’s policy regarding animal abuse.
Under YouTube’s terms of service, content that depicts the abuse of animals will be immediately removed from the platform. According to the company’s terms, a warning is issued for a first offense. Two subsequent violations will result in the termination of the account.
Houts allegedly has a history of complaining about the pet
While the Los Angeles police department is looking into the incident, TMZ has taken a deep dive into Houts’ twitter feed. The media outlet found multiple incidences of the 20-year-old complaining about the dog. She has ranted about the dog peeing on her bed, pulling her down the steps and allegedly hitting her in the face with his paws. She has also posted videos to YouTube that document her struggles with training the pet.
Doberman Pinchers, while fiercely loyal, are dogs that have a considerable amount of energy. When bored, they can be difficult and destructive. According to Vet Street, Dobermans must be well trained and offered plenty of stimulation. The breed is child and family-friendly, but are not the best choice for beginner dog owners.
Houts took to Twitter to issue an apology for her behavior and noted that she believes the dog has behavioral problems and needs training. Sphinx may still be young but is undoubtedly not the puppy, that Houts insists it is, and likely could have benefited from training much earlier in its life.
The dog has allegedly been allowed to stay with Houts while the police department investigates the incident. Houts has halted producing videos in the wake of the scandal. It is not known when or if she’ll return to the platform. She briefly deactivated her Twitter account but has since returned to the microblogging site.
