A Melbourne entrepreneur has come under fire after a now-deleted video captured her partner pulling their dog away from a park by its ear.
Mia Plecic, founder of beauty product Slick Hair Co, posted a 20-second clip to her Instagram stories featuring her fiance Justin Borg with their two dogs on Saturday.
The pair took their dogs Honey and Maple to a park, however when it was time to leave the canines both had other plans.
Unleashed and without visible collars, Maple walked away from Mr Borg as he tried to lead her while Honey trailed behind.
Ms Plecic was heard giggling, with her fiance – who responsibly had just picked up one of the dog’s droppings – clearly unimpressed by the pet’s antics.
“Welcome to my life every single day mate. The girls don’t like leaving the park,” Ms Plecic captioned the video.
However, viewers responded to Mr Borg leading one of the dog’s away by its ear.
The act left many viewers distressed, with the backlash forcing Ms Plecic to remove the video a short time later.
“Umm there’s plenty of ways to get your dog to come. Never would I ever pull the ear of my precious doggo,” one viewer posted on Facebook.
“As someone who doesn’t own a dog, even I think it’s extremely sh**ty to pull your dog by its ear,” another person said.
A third commented: “I’ve never once thought to myself I’ll grab my dog‘s ear and pull it along?! Take a second to put the lead on or grab the collar”.
Ms Plecic has since hit back in a new Instagram story, where she is calling on her critics to “relax”.
“To the people thinking Justin was hurting Maple in that video please relax. She was trying to eat random food in the garden,” she wrote.
“(Justin) wasn’t hurting her. We love our dogs more than anything in the world and they are treated better than any dog. Thanks for your concern.”
She later added: “Every single person commenting doesn’t follow me so you don’t know how loved these girls are. Easy to jump to conclusions!”
“Maple is the most rough, districtive (sic) dog, a little lead of the ear doesn’t hurt her, trust me. I’d kill Justin or anyone if they hurt my girls xx.”
News.com.au has contacted Ms Plecic for comment.
Ms Plecic is known for several start-up companies including Downtown Pressed Juice Co, Bondi Smile Australia and Pearly Whites Australia – which have all been sold.
She founded Slick Hair Company in December 2019, which initially sold the Slick Stick – a “hair essential” that puts stray hairs into place – before branching out into hair accessories and care.
“As someone who struggled with the worst baby hairs ever, I could never find a product that would slick my flyaways down without leaving my hair oily, hard or needing to be washed,” she wrote on her website.
Her products are currently available in several stores around the world including Sephora Middle East, Urban Outfitters, Coles supermarket, Style Runner and Universal.