Woman faces backlash for telling Asian dog walker to ‘Go back to China’

How it started: TikTok user Cindy explained in her post on Monday that the incident started on Feb. 7 when she asked the woman, purportedly identified by another TikTok user and YouTuber ThatDaneshGuy as Denise Olin, to leash her small dog to avoid a dog-related incident with her client’s pet. Denise allegedly refused and told her that she had been living on the block forever and that Cindy “should not tell her what to do.”

“It took me some time to decide whether I should share this video on social media because I could potentially lose a client, but I believe this kind of behavior should not be tolerated,” Cindy, a professional dog walker who describes herself as an Asian immigrant not from China who has been living in the United States for over 20 years, wrote.

About the video: The video, taken on Saturday, shows Denise confronting Cindy, prompting the latter to say, “There is actually a California leash law. Let me educate you.” Denise then interrupts her by saying, “Let me educate you. Go back to China.”

When Cindy tells Denise to “stop being a Karen” later on in the video, the latter suddenly approaches the Asian woman to tell her, “You’re an Asian Karen. You look like one.” Denise can also be heard telling Cindy, “You should move. We don’t want you on this block” at a later part of the video, and then asks her repeatedly if she “understands English.”

Before the video ends, Denise can be heard giving out a fake Asian-sounding name, “Wong Kang Hai,” when Cindy asks her for her name so she can file an official police report.

What happened next: Cindy requested assistance from a passing police car, she noted in her post description. She added that after filing a police report, Denise also declared that she wanted to file her own report.

“She made up lies to the police, claiming that I had made racist comments toward her, despite the video evidence showing otherwise,” Cindy wrote.

About the law: While California does not have a universal leash law or state law, cities in the state have jurisdiction to implement their own version of the law, such as Los Angeles County’s leash law and Sacramento County Code 9.36.061, which both require owners to keep their pets on a leash when in public.

How people reacted: Many TikTok users in Cindy’s comment section were outraged by the racist incident, as one user commented, “please tell me she got fired.”

“The smirk on her face as she’s constantly speaking over you and belittling you. Making my blood boil,” another user wrote. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

“She’s unhinged good thing you recorded,” one TikTok user wrote. “I feel horrible that this happened to you.”