YouTuber Arrested After Attaching Dog to Balloons, Making Him Fly

The 32-year-old YouTube personality, who has more than 4 million subscribers, claimed he took "all the safety measures" but critics are not convinced.

May 27, 2021

A YouTuber has been arrested after attaching his dog to an assortment of balloons and briefly making him fly.

Per reports, including this one from BBC, 32-year-old Gaurav Sharma—whose YouTube channel had more than four million subscribers at the time of the incident—was arrested by police in India following a complaint by the regional animal welfare organization People for Animals.

The Delhi-based YouTube personality was seen in footage taken from a since-deleted video shared to his page letting go of the balloons-attached dog, named Dollar, as the pet briefly floats in the air toward the second floor of a nearby building. At that point, another person catches the dog while it’s floating, prompting audible cheers.

In a follow-up video dated May 23, the popular YouTuber—as reported by NDTV—claimed he had taken “all the safety measures” when planning the widely criticized footage. He also claimed he won’t repeat this type of content in the future, adding that he treats Dollar “like a child.” Judging by the comments on the apology video, however, many people are not convinced.

Per the NDTV report, a case has been registered against Gaurav and his mother “under various sections of the law.”

Of course, this doesn’t mark the first time that an attempted YouTube stunt has resulted in the authorities getting involved. Here in the States, a Tennessee man was fatally shot back in February amid a YouTube prank operation gone wrong. The man, 20-year-old Timothy Wilks, had staged a robbery prank with a friend during which they both brandished butcher knives in the parking lot of a business in Nashville. Another man later told police he shot Wilks in self-defense, assuming the robbery was real.