Rich kid uses puppy to polish Maserati as Internet howls

Thu, May 18 2017

Update: The original Instagram video appears to have been removed, but the video can still be viewed at this link.

One of the Rich Kids of Instagram may never attempt to perform manual labor again after the 2-3 seconds she spent using a puppy to "polish" a rare Maserati. She cast it as a joke, but the Internet wasn't laughing.

Instagram user m666ya, who is said to be a young, beautiful, wealthy collector of supercars in London - or, she at least has enough access to photograph them and occasionally show herself behind the wheel of one - posted this clip of an extremely cute puppy detailing a limited-edition Maserati MC12, which sells for $1.5 million or $2 million (depending on who's doing the telling). It got picked up on the Rich Kids account two days ago:

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The Maltese puppy is compliant and seems, well, maybe not in distress but probably not having the time of its life, either. And m66ya or whoever is doing the buffing keeps it exceedingly brief.

Some of the reaction has been predictable. The New York Post tabloid called her "barking mad." And social-media reactions to the post were similar:

"Not funny."
"Animal abuse."
"Disgusting."
"This is just wrong."
"Shame on you."
"This is actually sickening."
"Money can't buy you class and in your case, values."
"Dogs are so loyal and only want to love and please their owner. You do not deserve any devotion of love from this innocent puppy."
"Psychologists will tell you, simple abuse of animals often leads to abuse of humans in later life. Seek some help now."

A few commenters defend the clip and suggest people lighten up. Some doubled down on the joke: "It's better to use a cat so you can hear your engine purr." A blogger joked you'd never actually use a dog to polish a $2 million car because dirt in its hair could scratch the paint. And one young philosopher of Instagram, whose spelling is too poor to quote him directly, makes the fair point that perhaps some people are less angry about the dog than they are jealous that these ne'er-do-wells are rich.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said: "We can understand why people are concerned about this video. While the owner does not seem to intend any harm to this dog, the animal may have found this stressful and we would urge owners to think about how something they see as a bit of fun could impact on their pet's wellbeing."

The Independent reports that Scarlett Caplan, who claimed to be the dog's owner - is she m666ya or some other Rich Kid? - said her puppy was clearly not in distress.

"Look, people are taking this way too seriously. Hero - the name of my puppy - was perfectly happy and loves being put on his back for tummy tickles and treats and I can assure you he was in no distress when this was filmed," she wrote.

"I think it's quite clear to see if your puppy is in distress, Hero clearly wasn't. I'm so sorry that you have no sense of humour, if you know a better car cleaning method let me know but he's a working dog and we have a shiny car so all is good."

Let's hope the dog is OK. Let's hope the car is OK.

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By Greg Rasa