Florida Man Erik Torres, a dog breeder in Doral, is receiving much hate after he attended a Miami Heat game with his Pomeranian dog Zsa Zsa because he died her yellow to look like the cartoon character Pikachu.
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The video of Torres and Zsa Zsa at the Heat Game quickly went viral, and Torres is now dealing with the backlash. People have opinions on both sides of the issue regarding the ethics of dying an animal’s fur for any reason. One commentator stated, “I don’t think that dog signed off on that paint job,”
Dade County Animal Services had a real issue with the dog being dyed. It seems that Dade County has an ordinance that “prohibits any person to possess, sell or otherwise transfer quickly the County any dyed or artificially colored rabbit or other animal.”
🐾😮 PIKACHU SPOTTED! A Miami fan's dog stole the show Monday night. Cameras spotted this pup painted yellow with red cheeks that resembled the #Pokemon character #Pikachu.
What do you think? pic.twitter.com/ZwjVFEvRBV
— John-Carlos Estrada (@Mr_JCE) December 27, 2022
An NBA and Pokemon fan decides to dye his dog’s fur to match Pikachu’s iconic look before taking the painted pup to a recent basketball game. https://t.co/k2ZUW52JFk
— Game Rant (@GameRant) December 29, 2022
Check out the cute pup spotted at the NBA game! https://t.co/kWoktrRbmz
— KICKS 99 (@KICKS99) December 28, 2022
Torres says his dog’s Pokémon-inspired dye job was completely safe. Groomers say that while there are safe dyes on the market, this dog is a puppy, and puppies are a different story; groomers and Veterinarians say they can get sick quite quickly. Torres stands by his work, saying it is perfectly safe and would be safe enough for him to consume. “I’m not going to apologize because, at the end of the day, I knew exactly what I was doing.” Torres said, “I did my homework, I did my research, and I knew that in no way or form would this affect my animal, my dog,”
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“We live in a free country, and if they feel a certain way, they can go ahead and do research, just the same way I did, and understand what happened and where this dye came from,” he said.
Dade County issued Torres a $200 Citation for the violation, but Torres will fight the ticket. He said he was leaving the dye on his dog. He also stated he wouldn’t bring the dog into Dade County again and that the dye would grow out entirely in 6 months.
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