A woman was surprised to find her neighbor’s dog on her doorstep with a swastika painted on its head, KING-TV reported.
The homeowner said her oldest child knows what the symbol means, but her two other children didn’t. She found it hard to explain.
“Certainly, it brings fear, and there is a cause for concern,” Carlos Galindo-Elvira, the regional director for the Anti-Defamation League in Arizona, told the TV station. “This is a symbol used by neo-Nazis, by skinheads and by white supremacists.”
Police responded to make sure the dog wasn’t being neglected, KING reported. The dog’s owners said they drew the symbol as a joke. They said they would remove the swastika.
However, Galindo-Elvira said free speech allows them to do whatever they want with their property.
But he said it’s no joke.
“It’s not funny,” Galindo-Elvira said. “It’s hurtful, and it can become harmful.”
Police told KING-TV that they did not find any obvious signs of abuse with the dog.