MANILA, Philippines - Has the Pokémon Go craze gone too far?
Over the weekend, a video of a dog dyed to make it look like the popular Pokémon character, Pikachu surfaced on the Internet.
they made their dog look like pikachu #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/hBR7eQYbbu
— Elihudi Urassa (@elihudiurassa) July 23, 2016
The video, which was shared by a certain Elihudi Justin Urassa (who is not the owner of the dog), drew flak from animal right's activists and has sparked an intense debate over the Internet.
Is it really okay to dye your dog's fur?
Users dubbed the poor dog as "Puppachu."
@elihudiurassa @justfara that is awful and cruel
— Jodi (@jodisjunglejym) August 3, 2016
@elihudiurassa this is horrible! Poor doggy #peta @peta
— Lina Mayorga #FFN (@fashionfabnews) August 3, 2016
@elihudiurassa I hope they used vegetable based dyes :/ those won't harm the pup
— thea (@slowtownfunk) August 3, 2016
@TylerC133 @elihudiurassa until he gets sick
— BluBurg (@jvenom5) August 3, 2016
@elihudiurassa @RubenxOcean
OMG!!It is always an animal to be sacrifice— ayatty(@ayatty11) August 4, 2016
@elihudiurassa @Ste_Collins - thus is so cruel. You should never spray colour onto an animal!
— Sheila (@Sheila81906140) August 3, 2016
@elihudiurassa I was just shopping for Pikachu dog costumes but this guy one upped me. I also love my dog and wouldnt want to embarrass him.
— AC (@koioioing) August 3, 2016
@elihudiurassa that dog is so cute and happy but that's really inhumane to do that to a dog... :(
— Phillip Steed (@Phill_Steeds) August 3, 2016
Mashable was able to get the reaction of UK's largest dog welfare charity and they said dying your dogs fur may be harmful to the animal.
"The charity understands that dog owners like to pamper their pooches; however we strongly believe that a pet is not a fashion accessory and should not be paraded as such so as not to fuel this perception," the charity group told the site.