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Pet owner who streamed dog running on treadmill for 3 hours criticized online

Published: 18 Sep. 2025, 11:59 Updated: 18 Sep. 2025, 19:57

A dog running on a treadmill, left, and the dog’s ear fitted with an earring. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

An owner who livestreamed their dog running on a treadmill for three hours on social media came under fire for animal abuse. An animal rights group later rescued the dog.

A TikTok livestream on Sunday showed the dog running nonstop on a treadmill. The broadcast lasted nearly three hours, during which the owner collected donations. The owner did not provide the dog with water and had fitted earrings on the animal’s ears.

Clips from the broadcast spread quickly online. One internet user wrote, “The owner forced the dog to run on a treadmill for three hours and pierced its ears for earrings. Police confirmed it was abuse. Please report this case to the cybercrime unit.”

As the controversy grew, animal rights group CARE said on Tuesday that it judged that the dog could not survive much longer in that condition and intervened to rescue it.

The owner told CARE that the dog ran on the treadmill voluntarily.

“Bring another dog and put it on the treadmill. It won’t stay on and will jump right off,” the owner said. “I did not tie the dog to the treadmill.”

Regarding the earrings, the owner said, “I pierced the dog’s ears at the same time as mine.”

CARE confirmed the owner’s consent to give up the dog and moved it to a hospital for emergency care.

“Even if the dog got on the treadmill on its own, forcing it to run excessively without control amounts to abuse,” CARE said. “If this was done to increase the suffering for the sake of broadcasting, then it should be judged even more severely as commercial and entertainment-driven abuse.”

Under the Animal Protection Act, intentionally inflicting injury or physical pain on an animal without a justifiable reason, including acts that lead to death, carries a penalty of up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won ($14,400).

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]