A family who rescued their dog more than a year ago have been falsely accused of ‘suffocating’ him during a walk in Sydney’s north.
RSPCA sent out warnings on Tuesday after they were given footage of a woman ‘suffocating’ the dog, Moby, ‘with a plastic bag’.
The animal charity claimed the incident was ‘alleged animal cruelty’ that had been ‘caught on film’.
A family who rescued their dog more than a year ago are ‘devastated’ are they were falsely accused of ‘suffocating’ him during a walk in Sydney’s north (pictured)
RSPCA sent out warnings on Tuesday after they were given footage of a woman ‘suffocating’ the dog, Moby, (pictured running hours after the accusations) ‘with a plastic bag’
However, a friend of the dog’s owner said the woman was actually trying to get a dead possum out of Moby’s mouth with a plastic bag in her hand.
‘He was trying to eat a dead possum while my friend’s sister tried to wrestle it from him with a poo bag on her hand,’ the friend shared to Facebook.
‘Possums have given him indigestion in the past, but he loves to find them.
‘Moby is part of a very loving family, in fact he was adopted from the RSPCA [in December 2016].’
The owner’s friend took to Facebook to share a video of Moby happily running across an oval just hours after the suffocation accusations.
Moby, a pointer-cross – not a greyhound as initial reports suggested, can be seen playing off-lead with another dog at the oval.
‘Rest assured, as you can see from the video, Moby is a happy healthy pointer-cross who will never be subject to cruelty by this wonderful family,’ the friend wrote.
‘It’s been really unfortunate this video has been shared so widely with no tangible evidence.’
The animal charity claimed the incident was ‘alleged animal cruelty’ that had been ‘caught on film’ (pictured)
However, a friend of the dog’s owner said the woman was actually trying to get a dead possum out of Moby’s mouth with a plastic bag in her hand (pictured)
The owner’s sister was caught on camera with Moby in Balgowlah in Sydney’s north where RSPCA praised the passer-by for filming the scene.
‘The informant in this matter has done the right thing by reporting this incident to RSPCA NSW straight away,’ said in a statement Tuesday.
‘By documenting this act, we are able to investigate further and help to stop this from occurring again.’
The video was filmed on Peronne Avenue in Clontarf just after 7.30pm on Monday.
‘It’s been really unfortunate this video has been shared so widely with no tangible evidence,’ the friend of Moby’s (pictured) owner wrote on Facebook
Moby, a pointer-cross – not a greyhound as initial reports suggested, can be seen playing off-lead with another dog at the oval (pictured)