The 38-year-old Ho Chi Minh City resident struck the dog repeatedly on the neck and head in a video that spread on social media on Sept. 2.
Residents reported the case, and ward police identified him from the footage and summoned him the following morning.
He said he had hit the dog because it would not follow his commands, and told officers he understood the beating had damaged Da Lat’s image as a tourist city.
The fine was issued on Sept. 4 under Clause 1, Article 28 of Decree 211/2026, which sets penalties of VND1 million to VND3 million ($38 to $114) for beating or cruelly mistreating animals. The decree took effect Aug. 5, replacing a 2021 regulation.
He paid at a bank that day and signed a pledge not to repeat the conduct, said Senior Lieutenant Colonel Ho Hai Duong, Da Lat Ward police chief.
He also told officers the dog was a personal pet he did not use commercially in public.
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A man beating a dog at Lam Vien Square in Da Lat in a video that circulated on Sept. 2, 2026. Photo from video shared on social media |
Police said he had recently moved to the Da Lat area and would bring the dog out for tourists to photograph for money when officers were not on duty.
An unlicensed trade in pet photographs has run for years at Lam Vien Square, in the center of the former Da Lat City, where tourists pay to pose with large dogs beside Xuan Huong Lake.
Videos that spread in August 2024 showed Alaskan malamutes being struck at the square and at the site where they were housed, and police questioned the operator of one photography service.
Officials have said charging tourists to pose with pets at the square breaches regulations, but the practice continues.
Police are advising visitors not to photograph or hire the animals, and said they would increase patrols and use the security camera network to catch it earlier.