CAIRO: Egyptian authorities on Thursday arrested three men over a grisly online video showing a group of men stabbing and bludgeoning a dog to death on a busy Cairo street.

The video, which surfaced earlier in the day, triggered an avalanche of angry comments on social media.

The dog, a cross between a pure Rhodesian Ridgeback and a mutt, was tied while the men set upon it with knives, machetes and clubs.

The dog’s owner, Mohammed Sayed, told a TV talk show Wednesday night that he had handed over the dog to the men to settle a long-running dispute. The case is rooted in an incident several months ago when the dog, named Max, bit eight people during an argument between Sayed and his neighbors.

Sayed told the TV talk show that he had offered a sheep to settle the dispute but his rivals insisted on taking Max and killing him. In return, they promised to drop charges against Sayed for letting his dog bite the eight people.

“My dog was so loyal he looked at me while he was dying as if to beg me to save him, but I could not do anything for him,” Sayed told the TV.