If there’s one thing the world won’t stand for, it’s a guy who shocks his dog to get it to behave like background furniture for his podcast.

Since you aren’t irrevocably and tragically “online” like those of us who write for a living — yeah, that’s my excuse, that’s the reason — you probably have never heard of Hasan Piker, a Twitch “streamer” beloved by the far left for his stupendously bloodthirsty anti-American and anti-Israeli politics. In a world where outlets like the New York Times are forever on the lookout for “our Joe Rogan,” Piker fits the bill for them: muscle-bound and well-groomed, the son of Turkish parents born in New Jersey but raised in Istanbul, Piker leveraged his relationship with uncle Cenk Uygur into his own minor online fiefdom on Twitch.

In fact, it is entirely possible you haven’t heard of Twitch either: a service devoted to livestreaming, its original (and still primary) function is for the younger generation to “game” along with their internet friends. Many successful “content creators” spend hours upon hours every day logged in online, sitting in their chairs playing video games and responding to their group chat.

The “television-ification” of all forms of entertainment and news delivery is a phenomenon with significant cultural consequences, but I mostly want to talk about the consequences for Hasan Piker’s poor dog. You see, Piker doesn’t do much gaming; instead, he sits in his chair in the basement of his comfortable Southern California mansion and reads through the news of the day, offering his commentary and responding to questions from viewers. If this sounds an awful lot like the talk radio format of yesteryear, it is. (Only much, much duller.)

But how to keep people glued to their seats for hours at a time? Piker discovered that if he bought a dog he named “Kaya” — a giant mixed breed between a Tibetan mastiff and a St. Bernard — and placed it on camera, viewers skyrocketed and people stayed tuned to his show. (Dogs are cute, and even lonely shut-ins watching Twitch or YouTube apparently like them.)

So Piker, recognizing a proft-maxxing opportunity when it presented itself, has decided to force Kaya to sit in the corner, on camera behind him, constantly as he podcasts for upwards of four hours at a time. But Kaya is a big dog — as the former owner of a Siberian husky myself, I know well enough that dogs that size are “work dogs” and need to get out and run around freely to stretch their legs, or at least to get a good walk in. Otherwise, they will prove to be naturally restless (but incredibly lovable) beasts. How does Piker get Kaya to stay so still for so long?

Vile animal abuse, that’s how! It turns out Piker has attached a shock collar incredibly tightly to his dog’s neck, and he shocks it to keep it in place, in fear. This only got noticed because recently he did it so viciously and noticeably — yelling at the dog to get back in position while reaching off-screen for a button that made the dog yelp in pain before cowering back to its corner — that the entire internet sat up and took notice. Piker first claimed that his dog had merely “clipped herself,” but then the internet did its thing and turned up at least seven other examples of Piker reaching off-screen to shock his dog when she got up to move, as well as videos of him admitting to having e-collared his dog. (In one clip a guest remarks with concern that it’s wrapped way too tightly around her neck. Piker is dismissive.)

Again, I had a husky once upon a time, and she wore an e-collar as well. Anyone who has ever owned a “big dog” — especially as a puppy — will tell you how useful they are as hailing devices to keep your new best friend from running away from you. (Huskies in particular love to lope around as far as you’ll let them run, so our Sophie had many years of training before we trusted her to go “off collar” outdoors, which is much different than “off leash.”)

These devices are never supposed to be used for punishment. The shock is supposed to feel (for the dog) like your phone feels in your pocket when set to vibrate: a reminder that someone is calling. There are now multiple videos of Piker lighting up his own dog with enough power to make it actually yelp in pain, which is beyond any rational doubt an abusive level of voltage. It horrifies me, as someone who would never have dreamed of treating my sweet Sophie in the same way. (Honestly, I find it actively incomprehensible — like kicking a toddler to “teach it a lesson.”) But I suppose Piker has to mistreat his pet that miserably in order to force it to do something as unnatural as sitting in place for hours at a time during the middle of the day.

The reaction from the public — among Piker’s fans and enemies alike — has been negative, to say the least. (Someone mentioned to me on Twitter that the only reason he had even heard of Piker was because of the dog abuse, and my response was, “Well what a perfect opportunity to form a first impression.”) The world will happily tolerate — even elevate — a vicious antisemitic moron just so long as he has the right hipster haircut and a rack of muscles to go with it, but if there’s one thing it won’t stand for, it’s a guy who shocks his dog to get it to behave like background furniture for his podcast. Most of us like dogs more than people, anyway.