“Dog Whisperer” Cesar Millan remains under investigation Friday for possible animal cruelty.
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The Los Angeles Animal Control’s major case unit and sheriff visited Millan’s dog training center in Santa Clarita, California after receiving complaints regarding an episode of Millan’s show, TMZ reports.
The animal cruelty investigation comes in the wake of an episode of his show which saw a dog chasing one of Millan’s own pigs.
We’re told officials want to question Millan about the pig’s current location and well-being.
“If I can give him a positive memory with them, it will be a great foundation that will translate into better behavior with all animals”, Millan said.
National Geographic Wild defended Millan, saying he took precautions and that he was successful in keeping the aggressive dog from being euthanized.
Millan, a self-taught dog behaviorist, was not present when the investigators arrived at his center, and a 24-hour notice was reportedly issued, which requires Millan to contact authorities.
The program segment was met with outrage by many on social media and a petition has been launched asking for National Geographic to take action as a result of Millan using another animal as bait in a live dog training scenario.
The statement continued, “A short clip from the episode was shared online and showed Simon chasing a pig and nipping its ear, causing it to bleed”.
An additional clip provided by the channel shows the same pig that was attacked by Simon now “taking [the dog] for a walk” as the two are linked by a leash, learning to coexist.
The network said the pig “that was nipped” was immediately tended to afterwards and healed quickly. Those images prompted a petition on Change.org.
“Cesar Millan has dedicated his life to helping dogs and to showing how even the most hard “problem dog” can be rescued and rehabilitated”.
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A rep for National Geographic Wild released a statement that reads in part: “Millan was working with Simon, a French bulldog/terrier mix, who frequently attacked other animals, including his owner’s pet pot-bellied pigs”.
