Social media star Hasbulla has responded to accusations that he abused his pet cat in a video posted online.
The Russian influencer took to his own YouTube channel to share the clip involving his cat, Barsik, where he could be seen scolding it and following it around the home.
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The original video has now been removed, but it has been shared widely online elsewhere and quickly attracted a lot of criticism from internet users claiming the animal was being mistreated.
In the clip, Hasbulla could be seen pulling on one of the grey cat's ears before smacking it on the head. The pet then went into another room and jumped into a cardboard box, but the internet star followed it and appeared to hit it two more times, prompting the cat to cower away from him in the corner of the box.
Viewers branded the video 'despicable', with some tagging PETA in comments under the clip and others saying they want to 'rescue' the cat after seeing how its owner treated it.
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"The cat is literally scared of him, it flinches joke or not you don't do that to animals .. its not a joke to hit animals so idk [sic]," one wrote.
In his response to the criticism against him, Hasbulla claimed in his most recent video that the cat had been 'misbehaving' and that he'd 'pulled the ear gently'.
"Those brothers who think that I was beating the cat, that I pulled the ear, this and that, I pulled the ear gently," he said.
"I know that people are waiting for the moment if I write something wrong, to just attack me like this...
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"[The cat] was misbehaving and I just pulled the ear and that's it. I love my cat more than you."
Hasbulla went on to claim that if he 'didn't love the cat', he 'wouldn't have it at home'.
"The most lovely animal is a cat," he added. "And when she disobeyed I scolded her a little. And you are attacking me for nothing."
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Some viewers weren't convinced, with one responding to say they hoped he would 'learn from this mistake', though others showed support for Hasbulla and said he didn't 'need to apologise'.
As his video explaining the situation gained attention, Hasbulla also used the opportunity to promote his NFT collection.
Emily Brown