There is national outrage after a man abused a puppy during a television broadcast in Memphis.
Local ABC 24 reporter Caitlin McCarthy was reporting on the protests downtown and was ambushed by protesters while on-air. One of the people included a man with a puppy. He picked the puppy up by the neck and swung it around while McCarthy reported.
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Kim Wheeler-Elder, the assignment editor for Local ABC 24, told KWAM THE MIGHTY 990 that McCarthy was unaware of what was taking place behind her during the segment.
“As soon as our anchor, Richard Ransom,” she said, “saw the guy holding the dog like that behind Caitlin, while live on the air, he apologized to viewers and had the live shot taken off the air.”
Wheeler-Elder said the television station notified police.
“All of the information as well as a screenshot of our live shot was turned over to local police as well as Memphis Animal Services the first of this week,” she told KWAM THE MIGHTY 990.
There were also reports that the man later killed the dog.
“We do not know the current condition of the dog,” Wheeler-Elder said. “There are rumors that the dog was found dead, but we do not have any information about the dog being killed. If that happened, we are unaware.
And there was a photograph circulating on social media that showed a man holding the dog with what appears to be a cable or rope wrapped around the animal.
“As for the other picture of the man holding a dog with something around its neck, we do not know for a fact if that is a real picture from the Memphis protests or if that is a pic that has been photoshopped by someone,” she said.
A petition is circulating online calling for the animal abuser to be punished.