- Ohio, USA -
The Kettering Police Department is investigating an animal cruelty video that circulated widely on social media.
In a Facebook post, police wrote, “We are aware of the video circulating the internet involving an animal cruelty incident and the allegation that it occurred in the city of Kettering. Please know that the video and situation is under active investigation, and at this time it is unknown where or when this incident actually occurred. Remember that investigations take time, but we take these matters seriously.”
2 NEWS reports that police said concerned citizens started calling on Saturday, October 14, 2023, after a woman had posted on Snapchat that she “killed the puppy.” After the video made its rounds on social media, a woman went to the police to report that in March 2023, the woman in the video stole her dog. 2 NEWS interviewed the woman who filed the police reports and who wants to be referred to as Ali.
Ali explained to 2 NEWS that she tried to sell an 8-week-old Pitbull named Baby Yoda to the woman who is now being sought by the police. According to Ali, the woman and her boyfriend took off with the dog without paying. Ali said she was able to finally file a police report after the video circulated the internet and she learned the woman’s name and what she did to the puppy.
WHIO did not publish the video in its entirety “as it is disheartening and disturbing.”
The news outlet reports that in the video “…a woman is seen threatening to hit a dog in a crate, several times. Later in that video, the dog appears to be dead in a trash bag.”
Cynthia James, Public Information Officer for the Kettering Police Department, told 2 NEWS that they have had “a lot of frustration with people believing there is a lack of transparency on our end or that we are not going to be pursuing charges because of us not entirely being aware of the full details quite yet.”
To this regard, Kettering Police wrote on their Facebook page: “We'd like to address some concerns we've received regarding the ongoing investigation mentioned in our previous post. Please keep in mind that due to Ohio's public records laws, we are restricted in how much information we can provide on incidents that are still actively being investigated. We also will not disclose to the public all of the information we do know during an investigation in order to maintain the integrity of the case. This is standard practice for all cases, not just this one. Just because we have a suspect identified, does not mean we can go charge them for an offense without knowing the rest of the details. Also, not everyone keeps their information updated on their drivers license or with the BMV, which then causes additional investigation to figure out where someone may be living or staying. Unfortunately, not everyone has established residency in a permanent home and therefore may move locations frequently. It should also be noted that at this time, it is believed the video being circulated was created some time ago and was only just now posted to social media, which is the main cause of unknown as to where the incident took place. Before making an arrest, we must first establish not only probable cause that a specific incident happened at a specific location in our city, but furthermore determine that we have jurisdiction over where it occurred. Hopefully this information helps explain some of the questions and concerns we've gotten over the past 24 hours. As always, feedback and suggestions are welcome.”
Police said anyone who has information about this case is encouraged to contact Sgt. Mason at (937) - 296 - 2595. Thank you!
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Details may be removed or additional information may be provided in future should such sources report an update.
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