Disturbing photos of a man dragging his little girl by the hair at a Cleveland, Texas Walmart are sparking outrage on the Internet.
Erika Burch was shopping when she saw the crying girl with her hair wrapped around the shopping cart handle as the man pushed it.
“Please stop! I promise I won’t do it again! Please stop!” Burch said the 5-year-old pleaded.
When she snapped photos and told the man to let the girl go, he told her to mind her own business,
"He is a sick, sick , sick animal is what he is," Burch told KHOU 11 News.
Burch said she flagged down an officer and he called his sergeant with the Cleveland Police Department.
“He has the right to discipline his children,” Burch said the sergeant told her. He reportedly told her there has to be bodily injury to be child abuse.
“Now this baby had to go home with this monster thinking that nobody cared about her and it’s okay for this animal to pull her by the hair of her head,” Burch wrote.
We checked with Cleveland police and they said they are investigating.
"We are taking this pretty serious," said Cleveland Police Chief Darrel Broussard. "Of course, that old saying, 'if you see something, say something.' In this case, I have to applaud those witnesses who attempted to intervene for the safety of the child."
Chief Broussard said CPS is also on the case.
Burch said she hopes the victim knows that people do care.
"I want her to know, it is not OK for anyone to grab you by the hair of your head, it is not OK for anyone to drag you by the hair on your head," Burch said.
And she's right.
We checked Texas law on child abuse and this is what we found: “According to Chapter 261 of the Family Code, child abuse is an act or omission that endangers or impairs a child’s physical, mental or emotional health and development. Child abuse may take the form of physical or emotional injury, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, physical neglect, medical neglect, or inadequate supervision.