A YouTuber is facing intense backlash after she accidentally uploaded a video of her shoving, hitting, and yelling at her dog to her channel.
The YouTuber, Brooke Houts, has over 300,000 subscribers and frequently makes videos of herself with her Doberman Pinscher. She recently accidentally uploaded footage of her abusing the dog, Sphinx, which included smacking the dog across the face, yelling at it, shoving it, spitting at it, and possibly kicking it. Houts quickly took the video down, but not before it was seen by many and reuploaded to Twitter and other platforms, with many calling on YouTube to ban her account and the LAPD to investigate her and remove the dog from her custody. It appears that Houts was attempting to get the dog to cooperate for a "prank" video. She has since issued an apology that reads more like a deflection than anything:
https://twitter.com/brookehouts/status/1158906113741299712
Houts has set her Instagram account to private in the meantime and has removed an amended version of the video. The LAPD Animal Cruelty Department has confirmed it is now investigating the incident. It's not clear if YouTube will take any action. Either way, it's absolutely terrible to see someone abusing an animal for the sake of advancing their YouTube channel.
Not really any relations to photography here, so why is this article here?
I do not condone animal abuse so it is good that the police investigates.
I halfway agree...not about photography but just the same it's a good example of what goes on behind the scenes with so-called influencers/content creators in the name of views....
Typically if you see someone grinding hard to show what a wonderful life they have going on, often times it's a bunch of BS.
This gal has popped up a time or two on my Youtube recommended list...no idea why. I did watch one video and found her a little strange.
PS : no shortage of people doing dumb things for the 'gram
https://nypost.com/2019/08/07/washington-woman-who-posed-with-octopus-on...
Coldfusion TV, in one of their videos talks specific to your second paragraph and honestly it’s quite disturbing that this is how society is functioning.
Personally I had to cut IG down significantly because it seemed anytime I met someone shooting in LA, or ESPECIALLY SF, they never wanted to actually know more about me, they wanted to know 1) what my brand was, 2) what my settings are, and 3) what my IG is, in some creepy way to actually get to know me
Now I know this is a YouTube personality, but the two platforms basically go hand in hand with their rating systems and the dopamine release the users get from their content. Just watching her video I wanted to liken her personality/video techniques to Casey Neistat or Peter McKinnon, because honestly, these people just find the hot trend and live in that box.
Animal abuse sucks, and I don’t approve of it. But society has taken a weird turn since I’ve been alive.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coldfusion/id1467404358?i=10004445...
Thanks for this...and very true IMO
It's that...
"hey look it me I'm super busy but I have to tell you about something cool I'm doing and I have to get it out as fast as I can so I can get back to doing awesome things like this in my life"
....Crap in particular that is getting soooo tedious.
I think the objective of his article is to bring awareness of people being cruel and abusive to animals. And if it's a video, it does relate to photography.
670,000 dogs are euthanized every year in America. That's a whole lot every hour for those of you counting.
Often our emotions respond more to spectacle than to data.....
Couldn't agree more. We just choosing and picking which abuse should get attention. In the U.S., more than 29 million cows suffer and die in the meat and dairy industries every year.
While you're right about picking and choosing I do have to say that I LOVE cheeseburgers.
At least you are honest.
Love a good tomahawk steak....
Brutal
I know...$60 a pop....if they came down a little I would sear one
Lol.
And it’s just as heartbreaking. I see you read NDT.
My comment is ironically a hit at his insensitivity.
While he is right, it doesn't make him right.
Red alert (the pc computer game) said it rather similar.
The character Stalin(I don't know if it's an actual quote of the Stalin or not) in the game "to kill 1 is a tragedy to kill 10 million is a statistic".
@ Marcus Joyce...what does the number of dogs euthanized in this country have to do with her abusing her pet? I suppose you consider that justification for her abuse and then posting a video of it on YouTube. And she has the audacity to whine about her mental health by reading all the negative comments she received on her channel!?! What about the dog's mental health?
Please quantify your statements with quotes from my original post and then I will respond.
I don't need to "quantify" my statement to you. Try reading the Twitter screen shot in the article. If she has mental issues, then she has no business owning a pet, let alone taking care of one. Period. End of discussion.
You stated that I would "consider justification of her abuse". Which is unfair. I am quite hurt by that.
And as you won't quantify what you meant by that's really very hurtful.
Please don't try to continue this conversation please.
There's nothing that needs to be "quantified" when it comes to abuse of defenseless animals. I couldn't care less how butt-hurt you are, either.
But you still said I justified her actions. I didn't. I never will.
I asked you to explain how you came to that conclusion and you just jump down my throat.
And your still sitting high and mighty about it.
You wanted me to quantify a statement that didn't need it. Period. End of discussion.
So you can't tell me how you came to the conclusion of "I suppose you consider that justification for her abuse".
Fantastic.
Since you require a refresh of your short-term memory, read my above comment.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Of course, we aren't machines we don't respond to "numbers" or "logic" the same way we respond to explicit visuals.
This comment reminds me of the tweet by Neil deGrasse Tyson after the recent mass shootings.
You don't say
Not trying to downplay your comment, wish people were more inclined to show compassion with the reality of data, unfortunately isn't the case.
How can you show compassion appropriate to the scale of abuse?
A single image like the girl crying at her mother. A turtle with a straw in its nose. A sea horse and a q-tip.
All these "single" events caused more compassion than the data with massive numbers ever did.
Well that was my original point, statistics as damning as they are, don't evoke nearly the same response, and that's the interesting thing about art, the reason vs. emotion thing, which I understand from your answer is very obvious to you.
This video won't change it. It's not the right image at the right time to change the mindset. But at least trying to tell people how big a problem it is, is at least something to provoke them into googling. Maybe one person will see it and do something about it. Maybe they will find the imagery that will provoke that mindset.
Ahhhh great! Now LAPD can throw her in crowbar hotel, she'll probably be spitted on, smacked and shouted at. I hope the warden makes also some behind the scenes YouPoop video :)
Some of these influencer are just putting a facade, but in reality they're just miserable beings
Some?
I'm gonna say most.
Who the fuck spits at a dog?
And why am I not surprised this has something to do with those imbecilic prank channels/videos? The people who make them are always the most awful fuckwits.