On September 2, two dog owners in the South Park neighborhood witnessed a woman passing by their home and spraying their two small dogs in the face with an unknown liquid. The couple immediately tracked down the woman, who has been identified as former Seattle math tutor Lauren Bonvini, at an intersection a few blocks away.

"Yes, I sprayed water at your dogs, because they were barking at mine," Bonvini told them. The couple, who primarily speak Spanish, asked the woman to show them the "water" she had sprayed on their dogs. She refused.

"I can do that [spray them]," she continued. "They were barking and agitating my dogs, so I sprayed water on them. Water is harmless. I can spray water wherever I want."

"My dogs were on my property; you were on the street," one of the owners said as Bonvini walked away.

Aftermath and responses
Despite her claims that the substance sprayed on the dogs was "harmless," the owners said they first noticed something was wrong when their pets appeared to be agitated.

After reviewing their security camera footage and catching up with Bonvini, the owners washed their dogs' eyes out with milk but noted that they still experienced vomiting, swelling of the eyes, tear stains on the fur surrounding their eyes, and breathing issues. Later reports from NextDoor allege that one of the dogs may have lost an eye following the incident.

The video of the incident has since gone viral, with animal behaviorists from around the country examining the footage.

Other community members have come forward with similar stories, accusing Bonvini of various objectional actions and behaviors. "I'm a part of the dog community," wrote one anonymous South Park resident. "She did not use water, that WAS mace. She's known among us to cause problems, be extremely hostile, and mistreat both animals and humans. She will also steal animals if she believes their owner isn't good enough."

Another resident wrote, "Man, this really pisses me off. We had a run-in with her a few months ago. She decided to kick my gate open because my dogs were barking at her dogs (through a privacy fence). Because she felt threatened lol. She didn't know we were standing in the doorway watching. Caught up with her at the coffee shop and gave her a few not-so-nice words."

"Fence aggression"
Just a week before the incident, Bonvini had posted to Facebook complaining about neighborhood dogs with "fence aggression." She wrote "Gawd, the number of dogs in this neighborhood that are fence aggressive and held in by flimsy fences freaks me out, especially because they're often left unattended all hours of the day. I recommend getting pepper gel (instead of the spray, which can blow back at your dog) for situations like that. Much easier than trying to break up a dog fight."

For the last two years, Bonvini has been a product ambassador for the company Modern Icon, which on Instagram claims to "hand craft high end, made in America products for the Icons of this Modern age. Police Officers, Military Personnel and Discerning Citizens" [sic]. These products include collars, harnesses, and leashes for the most part.

Following the incident and release of the viral video, Modern Icon has cut ties with Bonvini and released a statement regarding her actions. "While we are not responsible for the actions of our customers, we will say that we do not approve of anyone doing anything to a dog on someone else's property, including petting, without the permission of the owner. As such, we do not approve of the actions seen in this video."

Ties to SPD?
While the South Park family has contacted Seattle police to report Bonvini, other community members say they have already reported her for previous incidents with no repercussions.

"The thing that isn't being said here is that Lauren Bonvini has active ties to POLICE dog training, and the family she did this to is Hispanic and barely speaks English. So, how much do you think the police are gonna do?" said one community member who wished to remain anonymous. "I'm not holding my breath. I think this is part of the reason the neighborhood is so up in arms. We all know this kind of family and their little dogs, and it's horrendous that this happened to them. And it's not a surprise that the police aren't doing [anything]."

Bonvini has since deleted all social media accounts, but prior to doing so was reportedly involved in Seattle's punitive dog training community through Facebook. Often used as a way to train larger breed dogs, punitive dog training involves harsh discipline to correct unwanted behavior, but at best is seen as unsuccessful, and at worst considered abuse, by professional animal handlers.

"A study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Behavior concluded that confrontational training methods such as hitting dogs, intimidating them with punitive force, and using techniques of restraint like the 'alpha roll' actually do very little to correct dogs' behavior and in fact increase the likelihood that they will be fearful and aggressive," said animal behaviorist Victoria Stillwell regarding the practice.

While public outcry has certainly brought attention to "the South Park Dog Sprayer" and whipped her social media off the internet, pet lovers are still concerned that Bonvini has faced no legal consequences. Many are now calling for Seattle Animal Control to get involved and take away her dogs.

We reached out to SAC for comment, but they were unable to say whether or not they have gotten involved in the case. Bonvini has also refused to speak with us, or any other media.