US: Man receives anti-gay abuse and hit in the head for walking pink coloured poodle with boyfriend
A man in the US state of Oregon has been hit in the head with a bolt-cutting tool by a stranger who yelled anti-gay slurs after seeing the victim walk a pink coloured poodle.
In an interview to the Oregonian newspaper, David Beltier said he was walking with his boyfriend and their poodle Beauty in the Portland suburb of Hillsboro on Friday 1 March when a stranger drove by in a car and yelled: “that’s not right for that dog to be that colour.”
Mr Beltier became alarmed and then dialled 911.
According to court papers, it is claimed the man hit Mr Beltier once in the shoulder, then grabbed the heavy tool and hit him behind his left ear.
Police later arrested 22-year-old George Allen Mason Jr. on suspicion of second-degree intimidation, second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and reckless driving.
Mr Beltier did not require medical treatment.
“Honestly, I feel like the pink poodle provoked him,” Mr Beltier said. “We weren’t holding hands or anything. Just walking the dog like normal.”
Mr Beltier has three dogs each in different colours that have been dyed with Kool-Aid.
