What Would You Do if a Facebook Friend Threatened to Kill His Dog Online?

Luckily for Mark Joiner's dog, people took action -- and the police showed up at his house.

Mark Joiner did a very dumb, very horrible thing on social media the other day, which outraged many and sent the police over to his house in Ceres, California, straightaway. 

Here's what he posted to Facebook.

Yeah, he's said he'd shoot his dog and put her in a hole. Yeah, he's terrible. When people began writing back, he kept up the horribleness: 

Fortunately, dozens of concerned people took these images and posted them to the right place -- the Ceres Police Department Facebook page, which is where we got them. Here's one of the messages someone posted with the images: 

He lives in Ceres, and my wife & I checked with a mutual friend and have discerned that he is not joking about harming this animal. please people, speak up and let him know this is not funny at all. In this age when people post things like this publicly we cannot sit by and do nothing. I am also posting this to all animal advocacy groups in his area. Those of you in the military please reach out to him as well he is clearly in need of assistance and he is a fellow service member.

The Ceres Police Department took all of this very seriously, to its credit, responding to posts that the matter was being investigated. And it was. According to a press release the department sent out later, officers went to Joiner's home to check on the animal, and he assured them that he was only venting. The dog appeared unharmed.

"Ceres Police Department takes animal cruelty very seriously," the release continued. "Maliciously torturing or killing animals is a felony and should be reported to Stanislaus County Animal Services at (209) 558-7387 or local police."

Then the department took to its Facebook page to reassure people that the dog was OK, posting messages like these to concerned citizens:

"Officers have checked on the dog, who is unharmed and the owner assured us he was only venting.""We are happy to see so many people take the time to contact us to ensure the safety of EVERYONE in our community, including our furry residents.""Thank you, the matter was investigated and the dog is okay."Officers even took a picture of the dog and encouraged people to click on it: 

All in all, the department said approximately 40 to 50 reports about the post came in from at least five different states. It's good to see that actions of a bonehead in Ceres aren't ignored by the public. 

All we can hope now is that someone steps forward and offers to take the dog to a better home.

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