PONCHATOULA - Three teenagers from Ponchatoula were arrested on animal cruelty charges Saturday after a video taken in 2023 was shared multiple times on social media. 

The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office said they were alerted to the situation by a video that was posted recently and shared more than 1,500 times. It shows a person and a dog in the middle of a pond. When the dog starts swimming toward the bank, the person ignites the dog's shock collar. After the dog stops moving and refuses to swim toward duck decoys, the person punches the dog repeatedly in the head and neck area. 

One 15-year-old boy was arrested for one count of animal cruelty and two other 15-year-old boys were arrested for principal to animal cruelty. The sheriff's office said the person filming the video and the other person there were also booked due to "neither intervening on the dog's behalf."

Deputies said the incident happened in the Manchac area in early 2023. The dog was found Saturday and is currently healthy and "of a happy disposition," according to the sheriff's office.