Dog Arc: Difference between revisions

On July 9, 2023, [[Daniel Larson|Daniel]] '''adopted a dog''' from the [https://www.longmonthumane.org Longmont Humane Society], an animal adoption center, in Longmont, Colorado, to which he then after named Music (formerly Zola). Daniel's reasoning for adopting this dog was his want, and furthermore, [[Delusions|delusion]], for "security", repeatedly claiming Music to be a "guard dog", when, in reality, Zola was a regular house pet with no such capabilities.   

Daniel's announcement of the adoption sparked intense outrage in the [[R/Daniellarson|subreddit dedicated to him,]] and other communities. Controversy also sparked, many questioning if it was justified to take a [[Homeless Era|homeless]] man’s dog, as well as its legality.  

Many demanded the dog to be returned to the shelter due to factors such as Daniel's inability to financially support himself, a lack of a constant food source or shelter, his various [[Daniel and Mental Health|mental illnesses]], and the general negligence he continues to exhibit. Even worse, people feared that [[December 10th Incident|Daniel's violent tendencies]] towards people (as well as property) made Music a potential target in Daniel's next [[Meltdowns|meltdown.]]   

Not long after Daniel adopted Music, multiple rescue missions were carried out, most notably by Daniels past manager, [[Ox]]. The most notable one was carried out by former YouTuber [[Goated Mines]], and many other members of the r/Daniellarson subreddit. Through a Discord server named Ceel Team 6, Goated Mines, [[Flexburger]], and multiple others collaborated to save Music. Two days later, on July 11th, WeenWeenMusic, a member of Ceel Team 6, rescued Music from Daniel, making this the shortest arc in Daniel Larson history due to it lasting for barely two days.     

Since the rescue, Daniel expressed a desire to adopt a new animal several times. Despite this, he has not been able (nor tried) to adopt another animal.

Many weeks before the adoption occurred, Daniel stated that he wanted to adopt a dog and several other pets. Many people considered the odds of Daniel ever adopting any sort of animal to be very slim, as Daniel cannot properly care for himself, and his [[Homeless Era|homelessness]] would definitely not allow him to adopt. On many occasions, he has said that he has security and a team of people dedicated to protecting him. Daniel wanting to adopt a dog to protect him fell in line with these delusions.  

During this time, Daniel’s [[Management|manager]] was a man named [[Warren]], although little is known about him. [[Warren]] most likely told Daniel to keep his location a secret. This can be inferred from the amount of times Daniel was found lying about his location to throw people off of his scent, such as lying about being in motel rooms. Additionally, Daniel was still using [[Cameo Arc|Cameo]], a video making service where people would give him money for him to make custom videos. This gave him plenty of money to adopt a dog.[[File:Longmont Worker Testimony.png|thumb|372x372px|A long Reddit post made by a worker of the Longmont Humane Society.|left]]On July 9th, 2023, Daniel adopted Music (formerly named Zola), a German Shepard mix, from the Longmont Humane Society, an animal shelter in Longmont, Colorado. However, it is not know how long Daniel was in Longmont. Daniel's reasoning for getting a dog was for Music to act as security, more specifically as a "guard dog". While Daniel was allowed to adopt Music and walk out of the shelter with her, workers and bystanders were concerned about Daniel getting a dog, but nobody truly tried to stop him.  [[File:Longmont Facebook Comment.png|thumb|A concerned bystanders comment who claims to have seen Daniel whilst adopting Music. ]]There was an attempt by Humane Society employees to slow down the adoption process, but they ultimately allowed Daniel to take Music with him. In a Reddit AMA published on July 11th, 2023 by a worker at the Longmont Humane Society, they admit that the animal shelter did not do any sort of background check on Daniel.  

The worker went on to explain that people adopting animals lying about their living conditions was common at the shelter, and many people of Daniel's stature passed through and were perfectly capable of caring for dogs   

After being informed of who Daniel was, they were horrified. Though, even with this information, they still expressed disgust with the way many members of the Daniel Larson subreddit, and people from other platforms, treated the workers and Longmont Humane Society as a whole. The employee went on to claim that humane society workers had to now had to deal with several emergency service calls which resulted in first responders showing up due to swatting attempts, or false bomb threats. '''While extremely plausible, it’s worth noting that these events are unconfirmed.'''  

The worker urged people to stop harassing the Humane Society, as they were actively working to fix the situation, and, beforehand, they were not aware of dangerousness of the situation. Following the incident with Daniel, the society firmly stated that background checks were now under serious review, and confirmed that Daniel had been [[List of places that have banned Daniel|permanently banned.]]  

The adoption fee was likely around $100, which Daniel was easily able to afford due to his then active [[Cameo Arc|Cameo]]. While the shelter did not allow the homeless to adopt, Daniel lied on his application, claiming to live in an RV, which allowed him to adopt Music as they took Daniel by his word.     

Even more confusingly, Music was later found to have [https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/giardia-in-dogs Giardia], a parasitic infection that affects the digestive system. Daniel would later claim that he got dry food for her, but no video or photo evidence of this would ever surface, which lead community members to question the validity of this. Daniel initially did not post about Music at all, only having her posted when a fan named Keith, who was in the area, took a video of her.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Daniellarson/comments/1dzc0nk/1_year_ago_today/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button</ref>

He had taken a video while Daniel was seated at a Jimmy Johns, where he's seen talking to Daniel about his new "guard dog" while taunting [[World of T-Shirts|Joshua Block]]. After this interaction, Daniel would start posting videos of Music, most notably one where he goaded her to look at camera, only for Music to ignore him. This immediately sparked shock in the community when they realized that this was not someone else's dog, but a dog he had adopted himself.{{#evt:

Goated Mines, who would later play an integral part in this arc, would manage to get a hold of Keith, asking him why he hadn't said anything or shown any concern at all about the dog. Keith had been urged to snatch Music, even offered to be paid, although, Keith never took this deal and shortly after blocked Goated Mines.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Daniellarson/comments/14vgw54/dms_with_dog_video_guy/</ref>  <gallery>

This sparked immediate calls to collect Music and bring her back to the Longmont Humane Society. Despite the fact it is likely illegal to take the dog from him, Daniel had lied about his living arrangements to adopt her and had therefore adopted her fraudulently. Secondly, Daniel was a frequent caller of the Denver police, so the odds of him being taken seriously when calling in were ultimately slim. Third, Daniel has little idea of how the [[Daniel and the Law|legal system]] actually works (and additionally, he has been sent to jail several time), and no matter how many unspecified legal threats he would make, it is most likely that no charges would be pressed.  [[File:"Yes, I don't lie".png|left|thumb|Daniel is confronted as a liar.|250x250px]]

This call to action reached the ears of many people, most notably one of Daniel's older managers, [[Ox|Ox.]] Even though the opinion of Ivan in the community is largely negative, him posting in the subreddit about his attempts to rescue Daniel's dog lead people to be hopeful that he could maybe redeem himself and return with Music safely. In the time it took Ox to arrive from Wyoming, Goated Mines and many others called Longmont Animal Control and the Longmont Humane Society. While the Humane Society did not answer the phone, presumably due to the amount of harassment they were receiving, Animal Control was made aware of the situation. This would later be corroborated by Ox, who said he'd seen Animal Control checking the Longmont area when he finally arrived in Colorado.  [[File:Longmont Statement 7-10-23.png|thumb|A public statement issued by Longmont Humane Society.|350x350px]]Not long after, Daniel began to post more videos of Music. In these videos, she looked incredibly hot and anxious, and could be heard whimpering.  

Eventually, the Longmont Humane Society saw fit to issue a public statement regarding the situation, only a day after the adoption. In their statement, the Longmont Humane Society acknowledged the situation and informed the public that they were doing everything in their power to get Music away from Daniel.     

In the meantime, other people who were out of state or unable to reach Daniel made efforts to spread awareness of the situation. YouTubers such as [[Goated Mines]] and [[Content Creators#SmokeyMcC|SmokeyMcc]], who made videos explaining the situation. There were also members of the community who were making Facebook posts, trying to spread the word so Music could be found.     

While people were working to rescue Music, concerns grew as the forecast predicted heat over 90 degrees, which would be very stressful to a dog without proper cooling or water. Daniel is known to walk multiple miles for things, and something like that could be potentially fatal to a dog of Music's size without water, shade and rest. Daniel would become very quiet online, eventually travelling to Union Station in Denver and meeting with a group of young men. These people were exposed for belonging to a group called "[[EXPO PRODUCTIONS]]", who made music videos. They'd spent time with Daniel before, making people believe that they were aware of the situation and who Daniel was.   

After meeting at Union Station, they would make their way to a bridge along Riverway, where they would try to film another music video.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5rBVbJmEd4</ref> Daniel would soon start live streaming on his YouTube channel, [[Daniel Larson NYC 13]]. While he was live, people started working to find his location so animal control could move in and seize Music.     

Because doxxing was not allowed on the subreddit, many, most notably [[Goated Mines]], created Discord servers where people could work together to find Daniel and Music. In these servers, some members made posts to Longmont and Denver pages, urging people to look out for Daniel and to immediately report him when seen. Some people even claimed to have seen Daniel in the area, having been worried about his mental state.     

While the live stream went on, it seemed as though Music was mostly ignoring Daniel. He had repeatedly tried to call her name to get her attention, though she did not listen to Daniel. Additionally, Daniel would constantly refer to Music as a "he". The dog would frequently bark at the people around Daniel, which people speculated to be a sign of stress. Daniel said her barking was because of her "guard dog nature", and spoke at length about how he'd gotten Music so she could act as protection for him. The stream was mostly uneventful as the members of Expo Productions continued to film their music video, with occasional commentary from Daniel.