THE Internet is in uproar after a man in Brazil posted a picture of his dog, apparently sporting five tattoos.

    There have been calls for the man to be charged with animal cruelty after the tattooed dog appeared online.

    The bull terrier appears to have tattoos of an anchor, a knuckleduster and a diamond on its nose. It also has star tattoos just underneath its eyes and the logo of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team on both ears.

    Brazilian lawyer Fernanda Soares was the first to spot the images on Facebook and draw attention to them.

    The dog’s owner, a tattoo artist from Pocos de Caldas in Brazil, deleted the images when he realized he was about to become the target of an online campaign.

    The man, identified as Emerson Damasceno, then claimed they had only been put there because he believed they would protect the animal from cancer.

    The owner’s girlfriend defended him, with postings on their social network accounts in which she claimed.

    But several prominent veterinary experts said what appeared to have been done to the dog had no obvious benefits, and indeed it even might cause problems. The man later deleted his profile from Facebook and other social network accounts.(SD-Agencies)