Is slapping dog on his face considered animal cruelty?

Question

I cannot believe my brother slapped our dog. We have an 11 week old Doberman Pinscher who is still not out of his puppy stage. He was trying to bark a lot last night. It was a soft kind of bark. But the dobbie just kept making noises consistently.

I have 19 year old brother, who came down and suddenly gives the dobby a hard slap on his face and yells on dobbie's face--

SHUT UP YOU MORON. SHUT UP.

And then the dobbie quiet down but after that it has been acting very nervous and scared. It tries to hide from everyone now.

I ask brother why he was so mean to dobbie and brother say,

"he was not getting quiet. what else could i do? dobbie is tough dog, it did not hurt him and he will forget it fast"

I complained to parents about brother's conduct to dobbie but they did not take it seriously.

Answer 1

Well let's see if we can figure this one out.  Let's say we....  oh just for the sake of argument, slapped your brother on the nose, then yelled at him calling him a moron...  would THAT be considered child abuse/cruelty?  You d**n right it's animal cruelty, and you better take the matter to your parents again, before that puppy is affected for life.  I have seen too many dogs cower down when I went to pet them, as if they were about to be hit.  One dog even pissed himself.  That was sad.   The last friend who yelled at my dog, and spanked him... I took a chair over his head, then kicked him out of my house!  Dog's are not just an animal.  Dogs become a member of the family, and should be loved and cared for...  well perhaps not as MUCH as a child....  but a d**n close second!