FACT CHECK: Is a petition seeking the capture and arrest of a woman who cut the limbs off a muzzled dog accurate and current?
Claim: A petition calls for the capture and arrest of a woman seen on video cutting the limbs off a live, muzzled dog.
OUTDATED
Example: [Collected via Twitter, July 2015]
Dog Severely Mistreated As Woman From Hell Removes His Limbs While Conscious!Demand Punishment!https://t.co/zqg7kPThpe pic.twitter.com/bjAEAVZC5y
— PetitionHub.org (@PetitionHub) July 6, 2015
Origins: On 6 July 2015, a petition titled "Muzzled Dog Severely Mistreated As Woman Removes His Limbs While Conscious! Demand Punishment!" was published to the website PetitionHub. According to the petition's author, a graphic and disturbing video depicting the torture of a dog had surfaced through an unspecified online outlet:
A horrifying case of animal cruelty and abuse has surfaced on the internet as a video of a woman mistreating an tied up dog was posted on the social media.
In the video, a woman can be seen using a saw to slowly remove the dog's legs as the dog cries in pain. The dog has a muzzle and the other legs seem to be already removed. The dog was conscious through the ordeal and it is unknown if he survived.
The dog seems to have no fur on him at all and that might be the result of him being skinned alive.
Please share this petition in an effort to identify this woman and have her prosecuted for her actions! This woman must be identified and I'm most certain someone out there knows who she is.
The petition originally sought 20,000 signatures, and by 7 July 2015 it had garnered more than 10,000. Also by that date, a relevant update was appended to the petition offering background about the purportedly "new" video the petition was based upon:
UPDATE: After investigating this case deeper and receiving a response from the INTERPOL we found out that the woman from the video is Dorma Ridon.
Dorma and her husband Vincente were locked up in June 2012 and will remain there as they were sentenced to life in prison for the child abuse, animal cruelty and others.
Portions of the update are corroborated by an 1 October 2014 article from an Australian news site:
The online videos, which show teenage girls torturing and killing animals, have landed two Filipinos in prison for life, a court has heard.
Dorma and Vicente Ridon, both 54, were convicted of human trafficking, cruelty to animals, child abuse and violating wildlife protection laws on Monday for their involvement in the series of so-called crush videos, where animals are killed for sexual fetishisation.
Whether the graphic image featured at the top of the petition truly depicts Dorma Ridon is not clear, as that particular photograph does not appear to have been circulated as such prior to its 6 July 2015 publication. However, Ridon and her husband have indeed already been arrested, charged, and convicted on a number of animal abuse-related counts and sentenced to life in prison. The fate of the dog seen in the still image is unknown to us, as we were unable to locate the video from which the image was taken.
Last updated: 7 July 2015
Originally published: 7 July 2015