A young Aussie couple holidaying in Bali have been targeted in an online hate campaign after being wrongly accused of leaving a stray dog to die after they accidentally hit it on their moped.
Charlie Torr and her boyfriend Jake Biggs were riding through Uluwatu, on the island’s south coast, when a dog called Neo ran across the road and was hit.
A local rushed to the scene and took a photo of the couple after they checked on the dog, which appeared to be uninjured.
The image spread across social media, along with claims the couple had left the dog for dead and refused to pay its vet bills upon returning to Australia.
The pair have now hit back at the claims, describing them as ‘false and without foundation’.
An Aussie influencer and her pet-loving boyfriend, Charlie Torr (Right) and Jack Biggs (Left), have denied they fled after hitting a dog with a moped while on holiday in Bali
Mr Biggs, who works at a doggy day-care and training business, told Daily Mail Australia the couple ‘felt very unsafe in the situation’, with a pack of dogs and irate locals surrounding their moped.
‘Already driving cautiously due to the road conditions and the prevalence of stray dogs, we stopped when one dog dashed towards us trying to escape the other dogs,’ he said.
‘Despite our efforts to avoid contact, the dog ran in our direction, lightly bouncing off the front side of the scooter.
‘We observed the dog to immediately jump up and continue running away from a larger dog pursuing him up a set of stairs. Other than trying to escape the larger dog, the dog looked entirely fine and uninjured.’
He said they had only driven about 100m down the road to escape the pack of angry strays before returning to find the local man and the dog they hit were not at the scene.
The pooch had been taken to a nearby vet and looked over for injuries.
After social media posts identified the couple and revealed the dog was still in the care of a vet, Mr Biggs reached out to the clinic to pay for its bills.
‘The vet shortly after confirmed that the dog is in great condition and has been playing with other dogs at the vet,’ he said.
The couple were pictured – shortly after checking the dog was uninjured – by an angry local who falsely accused them of attempting to flee the scene
The pooch (pictured) was taken to a veterinarian clinic and found to have not been injured but had health issues related to being a stray. The couple have paid for all of its vet bills
A series of X-rays and tests confirmed the dog hadn’t suffered any injuries due to the collision, however, it was ‘anaemic and dirty as it had been abandoned by its owners’.
Conversations, bills and transactions seen by Daily Mail Australia confirmed the couple have been funding care of the dog.
Mr Biggs said the allegations that they hadn’t attempted to take care of the dog ‘do not align with our values as devoted animal lovers’.
‘It has led to relentless bullying and disturbing threats against us. There is no excuse for this,’ he said.
The posts led to Ms Torr, an actor and influencer, deactivating her TikTok and Instagram accounts after receiving a number of hateful messages.
