PARIS — On September 19, animal rights group, Cause Animale Nord, was captured on camera tearing away a puppy from a homeless man to the shock of one bystander who recorded the whole thing. Upon seeing the incident, Nghi Le Duc immediately took to his Facebook page to upload the video of the heartbreaking footage. Only days later, the video took the Internet by storm, receiving over 1.8 million views and a slew of outraged comments.
READ MORE: HOMELESS MAN IN TEARS AFTER ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUP TAKES AWAY HIS PUPPY
People all around the world expressed their shock towards the actions of Cause Animale Nord and started a change.org petition to get the puppy back to its rightful owner. Fast forward to October 2 and the puppy was finally reunited with the homeless man, who had not only the support of the online community but also the police. The man immediately reached out to a lawyer, proving that he was the rightful owner of the dog with papers, who then elicited the help of local authorities.
By the time the puppy was returned to the man, the online petition had received over 240,000 signatures and although that may have helped, it is likely the police intervention resulted in the man getting his dog back. After launching an investigation for theft and assault on September 24, the police took the president of the animal rights group, Anthony Blanchard, into custody. While in custody Blanchard admitted to stealing the dog and agreed to return it to the homeless man as a condition of his release.
Suffice to say, the man and the dog are now living together once more as companions and friends on the streets of Paris. See the video of the dog being taken away from the man here.
READ MORE: IT’S INCREDIBLE WHAT THIS HOMELESS VETERAN DID TO SAVE THESE PUPPIES

- French Resident Vincent Defives located the homeless man and uploaded an Imgur photo with him.
- The man was happily reunited with his puppy on October 2.
- Cause Animale Nord initially denied having done anything wrong and placed the pup in foster care.
- Images of the puppy on their account were met with outrage from the public.
Via Telegraph | Know Your Meme | The Dodo