Bellefontaine Neighbors police have arrested 20-year-old Ariel Rhodes and say she is being charged with animal abuse after a video circulated of a woman repeatedly striking a Yorkshire terrier.
According to First Alert 4, police said they learned of the video Thursday, then located Rhodes and arrested her. They said the footage showed a woman recording herself striking the dog and that she had posted it on her own social media account before it moved through Facebook and Instagram.
Officers said the Yorkshire terrier was found alive and taken by St. Louis County Animal Control for evaluation.
Interim Police Chief Timothy Sanders credited the people who flagged the clip. "I want to thank the many concerned citizens who brought this incident to our attention," he said, adding that reports of animal abuse will be taken seriously.
In a separate north St. Louis County case, FOX 2 reported that prosecutors charged Keith Mayfield, 71, with felony property damage and misdemeanor animal abuse after he allegedly shot a neighbor's dog on Dec. 15, 2024, while the dog was fenced in her owner's yard. That dog survived, and treatment costs totaled more than $750.
Rhodes's charge, as police describe it, is animal abuse tied to the video. The terrier remains with county animal control for evaluation.
