A woman went viral online after she posted a TikTok showing her allegedly stealing a neglected dog from its abusive owner's yard.
Samantha Zimmer, who goes by @streetlifetothesweetlife, uploaded the video to TikTok on February 1 where it has received more than 1.1 million views and hundreds of comments from concerned users.
Zimmer, who has more than 791,000 followers on TikTok, is a dog and cat foster in Houston, Texas. She commonly posts videos of various stray dogs and their rescue stories for her followers.
Houston, sometimes called the "city of strays," has more than 1 million stray dogs wandering the city, according to local pet shelter BARC. Other agencies estimated homeless animals outnumber homeless individuals 5 to 1.
"She was so hot she was overheating," the on-screen text read over video of a panting Saint Bernard. "Rewind to a few moments earlier," the text continued before switching to a new clip.
In the video, Zimmer can be seen walking in front of a large dog on a leash. As both Zimmer and the dog walked from the yard into the neighborhood street, someone asked her what was happening.
When they asked if she was taking the dog, Zimmer replied yes.
"It belongs to my neighbor," the person said off-camera as Zimmer continued to walk the weak dog.
"Look at her, she looks like she has never eaten," Zimmer replied to the neighbor. "She's matted. She probably has heartworms. She can't breathe."
The on-screen text explained that they decided to name the dog Bertha. Sadly, Bertha suffered from advanced heartworms and died a few months later.
There are many reasons Houston has a stray dog problem, but much of the problem is because it took years for spay-neuter programs in the city to begin. The amount of breeding and the lack of demand is what led to the hundreds of thousands of stray dogs in the area.
In the comments, hundreds of users shared similar instances where they too removed neglected animals from their abusive homes.
"I took my dog from a backyard after she was left in a tiny kennel during hurricane Laura," one user commented. "And then for a week after while the family was evacuated."
"Been there," another user wrote. "I stole our literally next door neighbors dog after watching over a month of abuse. PD was involved. 2 years later—spoiled rotten."
"She died knowing love," another comment read.
Newsweek reached out to Samantha Zimmer for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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