They say you can judge society by how it treats stray animals, which is why lots of New Yorkers were alarmed at a recent animal abuse video that went viral. The video, which was shot in Queens, New York, shows an African-American couple abusing dogs out in public by duct-taping their mouths and their legs. People assumed they were up to no good, as one witness even claimed that they got threatened with a knife after they asked what the couple was doing:
The footage was posted to X by X user @ImMeme0, and it supposedly took place around August 23 in Jamaica, Queens, New York, specifically in Gwen Ifill Park. In the video, you can see the man, identified as 38-year-old Kristopher Fyffe, duct-taping what appears to be an American Pitbull Terrier’s mouth and legs. It’s not clear what they planned to do to the dogs, but they apparently ripped off the tape and ran away after realizing that they were being filmed and that cops were on the way.
Prior to this, a witness apparently confronted them and stated that the couple was hostile and even carried deadly weapons, “I saw this man and his girlfriend dump the dog at Gwen Ifill Park. I called 911 (no response, shocker). When I confronted him, he flashed a knife and told me to mind my business,” according to the witness.
There were actually two dogs in the scene, one mono-color brown and another, which is bi-color white and brown. Sadly, it appears it took a while and perhaps even multiple 911 calls for the police to actually respond.
Arrested, Thanks to the X Manhunt
According to an update from one of the X users who was concerned about the dogs, the suspect couple has been apprehended by the NYPD Quality of Life team, and charges are now pending as the investigation is ongoing. Sadly, it appears they had more dogs than everyone initially thought, as five pitbulls in total were discovered in the couple’s possession (two of the dogs were from the video).
The dogs have since been confiscated and placed in proper care, though people online are calling for rescues so that they don’t end up in shelters and face euthanasia. Finding people to adopt the pitbulls, however, might be difficult given their reputation for violence. Meanwhile, other people were still wondering what could’ve been the dogs’ fate had witnesses failed to stop the couple.
“Dogs are eaten in other areas of the planet,” fears one X user
“Who has the dog now? I will pay to fly it to Washington state and adopt it. Poor baby!! šš»šš»ā„ļø”
“OMG! š³What were they going to do to this poor dog!”
