Video of a local pastor using his dog for the purpose of a Bible lesson has gone viral.

In the video, David Perry, the pastor of New Selmont Baptist Church, is seen kneeling on the ground next to a colander. Cowboy, a blue nose pitbull, sits patiently next to Perry as he begins to give a Bible lesson on dominion.

“I believe that after you spend some time walking in dominion, everything around you should obey you. Now I know, Cowboy, I ain’t fed him in about two days just for this video,” Perry said in the recording.

Perry then pours food into the colander but instructs Cowboy not to eat yet.

“I know that he going to obey when I say, and not eat this food when I tell him,” Perry said in the video.

Afterward, the pastor instructs the dog to take one bite of food each time with pauses in between. After he concludes his lesson, Cowboy is told to finish his food.

The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department Animal Control and the Selma Police Department visited Perry’s resident on Friday in reference to the allegations of animal abuse.

Animal Control officer Ila Draine said the dog was taken to a veterinarian and was determined to be in perfect health. She said charges are not being pressed because the dog did not show signs of neglect.

“All it was is the video got out of hand,” Draine said. “The dog is in perfect health. We even have a vet that is standing behind us.”

The cellphone video was made on a Sunday in April, according to Perry. He said the video wasn’t intended to go viral, but shared it on Facebook with only a few friends.

“I felt led by the Lord [to make the video]. It was a simple lesson on dominion and I had trained the dog to do that and God told me to make the video,” he said. “I was just sharing the simple truth with just a few friends.”

Perry said he didn’t withhold meals from the dog for the purpose of the video, but to cleanse the dog’s system after it had eaten too much.

Perry said he feeds his dog a cup of food in the morning and a cup of food in the evening. However, on the Friday leading up to the video, Cowboy had gotten into the dog food and had eaten nearly half a small bag of food.

“He was pretty miserable. He will eat a lot if you let him,” Perry said. “That’s just their breed. They’ll gorge themselves if you let them.”

Perry said fasting the dog because it over ate was a singular event.

“He’s always a healthy dog, a happy dog,” Perry said.

Patrick Greene, a viewer from San Antonio, Texas, said he was disgusted by the video. The Selma Times-Journal was contacted by several viewers from across the country upset about the video.

“The actual act of taking an animal and purposefully withholding food or doing anything to it that would cause it any kind of discomfort, to teach a Bible lesson, that is disgusting. The dog doesn’t understand what is going on and the only way you can legitimately do that is if the person you are doing it to totally understands what is going on,” Greene said. “Even though you might give the animal more food than normal up to that, and then withhold food, they’re still treating the animal with behavior that the animal is not used to and that is treating them cruelly.”

Perry said the video has gotten mixed reviews since it has gone viral.

“It has been a mix, mostly good feedback from the video. There’s a few, some negative,” Perry said. “A lot of people were trying to think the dog was neglected, but he wasn’t.”

Greene emailed Mayor George Evans in reference to the alleged animal abuse.

In the email, Greene expressed his concerns and desire to report Perry for animal abuse.

“Who is the best department to file this complaint with, so the pastor can be prosecuted?” Green said in the email. “If the mayor or any city department refuses to act. I will start an online petition to force them to act and prosecute the pastor.”