Influencer arrested after skinning and eating stray dog to protest against meat prices

An influencer who skinned and ate a stray dog as part of a protest against high meat prices in Morocco has been arrested.

Ayoub Ben Nesnes posted a video showing him finding a dog by the side of the road and then skinning, cooking and eating it, which has resulted in some significant backlash.

The 26-year-old Moroccan was arrested in Martil on charges of animal cruelty after his video caused an uproar, the footage of him eating the dog meat has since been removed from YouTube.

According to the Telegraph, Ben Nesnes claimed he was attempting to protest against the high price of sheep meat during the Muslim religious holiday of Eid al-Adha.

During Eid al-Adha, sheep are ritually sacrificed but droughts in Morocco have resulted in a reduction in the amount of livestock, which has seen the price of meat increase.

The influencer insists he didn't kill the dog, saying it was already dead when he skinned and ate it (Ayoub Ben Nesnes/Youtube)

King Mohammed VI of Morocco last year urged people to skip the ritual sacrifice of sheep because their numbers were scarce and they were expensive, high prices have persisted through this year.

Animal rights groups and Islamic clerics alike condemned the influencer, as eating dog meat is forbidden under Islamic law.

He's since been charged with animal mistreatment and insulting Islam, though the influencer insists that the dog which featured in the video was not killed by him and he just found it by the roadside.

Following the backlash Ben Nesnes later posted another video in which he claimed the dog was roadkill and he'd played no part in the animal's death from being hit by traffic.

He said: "The dog that appeared in the video – I didn’t kill it. I found it dead on the side of the road after it was hit in a traffic accident.

He was protesting high meat prices in Morocco for Eid al-Adha, a religious festival where sheep are ritually slain (Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP via Getty Images)

“I didn’t kill it, so stop saying that I did. Everything is documented, and there’s proof.

"We all make mistakes, but I’m shocked by all this hatred and bitterness.”

Al Rahma Animal Welfare Association head Mohamed Amziane said the video had showed 'a dangerous level of detachment from human values', while the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claimed the Moroccan government was planning to 'exterminate 99 percent of all homeless dogs'.

Dexerto reports that Ben Nesnes remains in prison following his arrest while he awaits trial.

Eating dogs is an increasingly rare thing done around the world as many parts of the planet have banned dog meat and lots of people see dogs as pets rather than food.

It does still happen in some places, as in China an influencer dog that was stolen and sold to a restaurant was chopped up and cooked into meat before its owner could track it down.