CALLS have been made for a sick video of a dog appearing to attack an intoxicated man in Boscombe to be removed from YouTube.

The “tasteless” video shows the victim being knocked to the floor after being persuaded to try and stroke a huge black Mastiff-type dog by two yobs outside Costa Coffee in Boscombe Precinct.

Since the footage was posted more than a week ago it has been viewed more than 400 times.

Boscombe West ward councillor Phil Stanley-Watts said that YouTube should remove the video immediately.

He said of those who made the video: “It’s a form of bullying. It seems to me inhuman anything like that can happen especially in this day and age when we are supposed to be civilised. I would like the police to keep an eye on Boscombe. It may not necessarily be illegal but it should be clamped down on.”

Cllr Chris Wakefield said: “I think they should remove it. The men filming this have taken advantage of someone vulnerable and coerced him into doing something he might not normally have done if he had been in the right frame of mind. That sort of thing shouldn’t be put on a public website.”

In the video the victim is approached and a man with an American-sounding accent asks him: “How you doing, buddy? What’s your name?”

The man, dressed in a green jacket decorated with an American artillery symbol, says his name is Peter and he is asked if he will stroke the dog for £2.

The victim is shown being repeatedly goaded and the dog is depicted growling.

The person filming it then tells his companion: “The cobra’s gonna strike”.

The dog is tied to a post and Peter is told: “You are attempting to stroke a dog that cannot be stroked”.

The dog then lunges at the man and he falls over while a shocked female onlooker is seen remonstrating with the man and he claims: “I didn’t know the dog was going to do that.”

The Daily Echo’s original report has attracted a number of comments on the website so far mainly expressing their disgust and questioning why police have yet failed to take any action.

A Dorset Police spokesperson said that the YouTube video was “in poor taste” but added: “It does appear to corroborate the statements of witnesses at the scene. It clearly shows that the dog has not acted in an aggressive manner.”

Police were unable to locate the dog’s owners and enquiries continue, the spokesperson added.

RSPCA Insp Graham Hammond said: “You should never incite your dog to attack a person or another animal. Should an animal be injured in the process the RSPCA would consider taking action against the owner of that animal.”

A spokesman for YouTube was unavailable for comment.