Influencer sparks animal cruelty debate after dyeing her dog's fur red

An influencer has received mixed responses after dyeing her dog's blonde fur coat bright red.

Chloe, who goes by the username @danthebigreddog on TikTok, has dedicated her account to her 130-pound Great Pyrenees Dandy, who is featured in nearly all of her videos with entirely red fur.

In a series of videos titled: "Reasons why I dye my dog red," the TikToker shared the thought process behind the animal’s unnatural coloring, with Chloe explaining in the first video, posted in November, that she colors her dog for numerous reasons, with the first being that "he looks so adorable in red".

According to Chloe, she also colors her dog’s fur as a deterrent to potential pet thieves, as she claimed it is "to keep him from being stolen" as he is a "rare breed" in her area.

The third reason Chloe gave her followers had to do with the enjoyment she gets out of the process, with the TikToker claiming that it is "so fun" to dye the dog and that Dandy, who is featured lounging on the grass throughout the video, "really enjoys the extra rubs during the process".

Chloe also claimed that the "vegan products" she uses to achieve the color make her dog’s fur "shiny and soft," before revealing she also wanted to make the large dog "more approachable" by giving him bright fur.

"Dan loves people and kids but he's 130 pounds so people would get scared of him," she wrote in the video. "Now people don’t get scared of him! They only smile and ask to give him attention. He loves that."

In the second video in the series, Chloe revealed that the animal’s dye job was originally a Halloween costume, but that she liked it so much she decided to keep it.

In the clip, she also acknowledged that one of her reasons for altering her pet’s natural color is "for the attention," as she claimed that Dandy "pets and love from his fans," before following up with her third reason, which was to make people "smile".

According to Chloe, the dog’s dyed fur also allows her to "educate others on safe pet dye practices," before concluding the clip with the final reason: "Because we can."

Chloe also used the most recent video to reiterate some of her previously shared reasons, such as her claim that Dandy’s coloring means he is "less likely to get stolen".

Several commenters ridiculed Isa for attempting to dye her dog, calling it "unsafe" and "mean."

"Poor puppy," one person wrote, while another added: "So mean to do that to a dog."

"This isn't right," someone else said. A fourth comment read: "Omg that's not OK. Poor baby."

However, others stuck up for her and pointed out that there are animal-friendly hair dyes.

"There's literally nothing wrong with this," a different user fired back. Another added: "You know there's hair dye that's safe for pets right? Like, a lot of people do it."

Featured image credit: Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH / Alamy