Daytona Beach, FL – Investigators are on the case after a photo of a South Daytona dog with its mouth duct-taped shut went viral on social media.
That photo posted by Katie Brown has been shared over 160,000 times on Facebook since it was posted on Friday morning.
Brown – a South Daytona resident – is now being investigated for animal cruelty, according to a Facebook post from the City of South Daytona later on that morning.
“The South Daytona Police are aware of the disturbing Facebook posting and photo by Katie Brown regarding her treatment of a dog,” the post read. “Be [assured] that there is an active animal cruelty investigation in progress. We are taking this very seriously.”
The caption on the photo indicated that the dog’s mouth was taped shut because it wouldn’t stop barking.
The city thanked citizens for their concern but also asked them to not send any more emails or messages about this case because the city’s computer system is overwhelmed.
Another Facebook post from the city later that day promised to send out an update on the case when there’s information to share.
“Love the outpouring of concern for the dog shown in [the] disturbing Facebook posting,” that message read. “Thank you. Good people with good hearts want to help.”
Also on Facebook, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office says its account was “inundated” with hundreds of messages about Brown’s photo and that its 911 call center has also received “numerous” calls about the case.
“Please rest assured that we’re aware of the photo and, as the dispatch center for all of Volusia County, have notified the appropriate local police department of the incident,” stated a VCSO Facebook post made early Saturday morning. “We appreciate your concern for the welfare of all the members of our community! We’ve attempted to respond to as many individual messages as we can, but we hope this post will help put minds at ease in case we didn’t reply to every last one.”
No charges have been filed at this time.
Click here to see the post.
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.