Sasha Grey abruptly stopped a video mid-stream after it contradicted her defense of Hasan Piker’s dog training methods.
Grey was addressing ongoing criticism of Piker’s use of an electronic collar on his dog Kaya. She told viewers the collar didn’t have tape on it and claimed the metal contact points couldn’t be cut off.
She then played a clip showing the dog. The footage appeared to show dark tape covering the collar’s contact points. Grey immediately stopped the video. “I don’t want to watch anymore of this,” she said before moving on.
The moment was clipped and widely shared. Her initial claims were undercut by the same footage she chose to play. The controversy stems from clips of Piker’s dog wearing an e-collar during on-stream training sessions. Viewers pointed out what appeared to be electrical tape over the collar’s contact points.
Piker has said he disabled the shock function. In previous streams he described covering or altering the contact points to prevent shocks while using only tone or vibration modes.
The dispute centers on technical details. Most e-collar models have removable contact points rather than fixed ones that would need cutting. Manufacturers design the prongs to be interchangeable for different coat lengths and applications.
Grey didn’t return to the topic during that stream segment. The clip circulated as an example of a defense that backfired in real-time.
The technical question remains: whether the collar configuration shown in clips could still deliver shocks. Piker maintains he disabled that functionality. Critics argue the presence of an e-collar at all signals problematic training methods.
