A Hammond, Indiana police officer was placed on administrative leave this week after video surfaced on YouTube allegedly showing the cop abusing his K-9 partner.
The man shooting the video of the alleged abuse could not believe what he was seeing.
“Look at him…” said the man shooting the video.
His reaction, so filled with profanity, FOX 32 News had to mute the sound.
The director of the local humane society was also troubled, especially with the abuser being a cop.
“It was pretty hard to watch. I was trying to think of some reason why this would happen and there wasn't one that has come to mind still, so it was pretty hard to watch,” said Rachel Delaney, the Executive Director of the Humane Society Calumet area.
The man with the cell phone, who was watching a traffic stop outside his friend's window, did not want to comment. He was afraid of police retaliation.
The video has blown up on social media, from 850 views early this afternoon to more than 35,000 five hours later.
Hammond Police did not respond to FOX 32 News requests for a response, but the mayor acted quickly after seeing the video himself.
Tom McDermott said in a statement that the officer in question was put on administrative leave immediately and his K-9 partner had been taken away from him pending further police investigation.
“Anybody who loves dogs as much as I do is always saddened and shocked anytime you hear of a dog's abuse. When you find out it happened with an employee of yours, it makes it that much more shocking and disturbing,” McDermott added.
Many people in the neighborhood were also alarmed by the video, including a young man who saw it for the first time when FOX 32 showed it to him right near where it happened.
“It's not something someone should be doing to a dog because sometimes people look at dogs like their humans, and that's almost like seeing one of your family members get beat up or something like that,” said neighbor Montarey Harris.
