Two Florida men were arrested after a TikTok emerged that showed a fake veterinarian performing a deadly, unauthorized cesarean section on a French bulldog, WESH reports.
Frankie Huertas-Rivera, the 33-year-old amateur surgeon, was arrested last Friday for animal cruelty and practicing without a license, jail records show. The dog’s owner, 50-year-old Larry Colon, was also arrested and charged with animal cruelty.
According to an arrest report, Colon was looking to save money on a C-section for his dog, Lyla, and agreed to pay Huertas-Rivera $650 to do it. Colon told police that Huertas-Rivera claimed he was a veterinarian.
Lyla was reportedly brought to a local veterinarian’s office following the botched C-section, but she was dead on arrival and had two dead, unborn puppies inside her.
Police said Colon’s 15-year-old daughter filmed Lyla’s surgery and shared it on TikTok. The graphic video shows the dog wriggling in pain as Huertas-Rivera performs the surgery. (Investigators said he did not properly sedate Lyla ahead of time.) Several other minors were reportedly present at the time of the operation.
The original video and the account to which it was uploaded, @yoshunanaguns.o, both appear to be deleted. But Colon’s daughter seems to operate an alternate TikTok account under the similar handle @yoshunanaguns. Dozens of users have flooded her videos with comments related to the botched dog surgery.
“I called [American Kennel Club] to flag y’all and not register puppies also posted that video all over French groups to beware of being ups from you posted on Florida,” one user wrote on her latest video.
“Awww you thought we wouldn’t find you,” another user wrote. “It’s already been reported by thousands of people girl. Just go.”
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H/T WESH