VIDEO: Small dog left with bloody paws after woman drags animal while on Bird scooter
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Shocking and disturbing videos from Bakersfield show a woman dragging a small dog behind her while riding on a Bird scooter. Warning: The video may be disturbing to some.
The videos were recently recorded on a downtown Bakersfield street from a home surveillance camera.
Brandon Sanders said he and his girlfriend were riding their bikes and saw the whole incident.
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"I told her little dogs can't run that fast," Sanders said.
Sanders' surveillance videos are going viral. The footage shows what appears to be a woman dragging a dog behind her scooter near 20th and A streets on Sunday afternoon.
"I couldn't tell what it was, if it was a pet or something she was dragging," Sanders said.
Sanders said he and his girlfriend were yelling at her to stop.
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"I couldn't tell and finally when I was getting close to it, it popped its head up. It wasn't making any noises or anything like, it was kind of surprising and when I got up closer I could see all the bloody paws and then I didn't know what to do," Sanders described.
Sanders said he asked the woman what happened, and if she and the dog were OK.
He said her response was: "'S--t happens just like it does with kids,' and we told her, 'No you don't drag your kids behind a scooter at 15 mph.'"
The video has caught the attention of Bakersfield police, though the woman has not been arrested or charged with a crime.
"We asked, 'What were you doing, what were you thinking?' And she said to leave her alone," Sanders said.
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Sanders said he and his girlfriend followed the woman for 20 minutes while she carried the dog, and then they called the police.
Sanders said he was able to take some photos of the dog, because he wanted to have proof for the police.
"As I was coming up beside her, I was on my bicycle and she was walking and when she looked at me and saw that I was taking picture of her she smiled of me, kind of a smart-slick smile," Sanders said. "I'm not going to say what she did was intentional, but it was very negligent. She had to drag the dog at least 100 yards before she checked that it was there. And that's just from what we saw, from the point to where we saw her and she stopped."
The Bird scooter company has released the following statement regarding this incident.
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"We find the video to be deeply disturbing and are appreciative of the community for bringing it to our attention. This type of rider behavior is wrong and prohibited by bird. As soon as we were made aware of the video, we began our own investigation and have suspended the account for the individual involved in the incident."
Bakersfield police say they are still investigating the incident and that the woman was not the dog's owner.
The dog was released back to its owners and received medical treatment, according to police.
