{"id":413496,"date":"2026-09-29T05:44:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T05:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/413496\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T05:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T05:44:15","slug":"local-miami-journalist-honored-by-officials-after-raising-awareness-on-neglected-french-bulldog-seen-in-viral-video-wsvn-7news-miami-news-weather-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/413496\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Miami journalist honored by officials after raising awareness on neglected French bulldog seen in viral video &#8211; WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MIAMI (WSVN) &#8211; A local journalist in Miami who raised awareness about a <a href=\"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/news\/local\/miami-dade\/neglected-french-bulldog-rescued-after-neighbors-viral-video-sparks-outrage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">viral video of a neglected French bulldog<\/a> was honored by City of Miami officials on Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cata Balzano, who spread the word about the video, was honored by City of Miami District 4 Commissioner Ralph \u201cRafael\u201d Rosado and was presented an award to honor her activism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI want to recognize you with this absolutely beautiful token on behalf of our entire board that shows our wonderful downtown skyline,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The outreach began after Rosalia Bernal, a neighbor at the Park Line Condominiums in downtown Miami, posted videos of the emaciated animal living in its own urine and feces, and appearing dehydrated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She recounted her heartbreak when she saw the dog from her apartment balcony.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLooking for water. A little walking.\u201d she said. \u201cOK, it\u2019s not good, he is not healthy,\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She then pulled out her phone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo I\u2019m calling the cops first, and looking for the page popular here on Instagram,\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Luckily, the ordeal ended in a positive outcome after Balzano raised awareness to Bernal\u2019s video about the issue on social media, garnering millions of views.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll I want is to see that dog and make sure that that dog is OK, and initially, to understand what\u2019s going on with that resident,\u201d said Balzano.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her videos sparked an intense furor online, calling for action from police.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was not ever expecting that when I hopped into my car on Friday at 6 p.m. and got home at 2 a.m., that this was going to turn into what it did, and I\u2019m just very proud that we were able to do something so valuable for our community,\u201d said Balzano.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dog was later rescued by City of Miami Police officers, and the owner of the dog, later identified as Kevin Benjamin, was arrested.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe were able to make contact with the business manager, touched base with animal control, make a multi-agency investigation, deploy our officers, and within a few short hours, we were able to not only rescue the puppy but also take the person into custody,\u201d said City of Miami Police Chief Edwin Lopez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lopez also commended the community for their unity in confronting an injustice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen it comes to safety, not only of human beings but of our furry friends, is something that we take seriously. And we were able to salvage one animal, and the community coming together in this magnitude for us was very fruitful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bernal was also appreciative of the role she played in making a difference for that dog, as she has her own French bulldog.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m so happy, I saved a life. I saved a life and shared a life,\u201d she said. \u201cI was its voice, I\u2019m happy the dog is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bernal said that she plans to adopt the dog after it is released from the custody of Miami-Dade Animal Services on Oct. 10.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Benjamin has since been charged with one count of animal cruelty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday evening, Miami-Dade Animal Services released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Dd2MsRyJsNy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a statement<\/a> which reads:<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe wanted to provide a quick update on Dior, the French bulldog whose case went viral over the weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dior is currently safe and receiving ongoing treatment from trusted medical professionals. He remains in our custody and is not available for adoption at this time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019d also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone of the proper way to report animal welfare concerns. While social media can help bring attention to a situation, the best way to ensure animal services can respond promptly is to call 311 directly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When reporting a concern, please provide as much information as possible, including the location, a description of the animal, what you observed, and any other details that may help our officers respond.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019re grateful to everyone who spoke up and helped bring this case to our attention. As this remains an ongoing investigation, additional details cannot be shared at this time. An update will be provided once the case has been closed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p>\tJoin our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI (WSVN) &#8211; A local journalist in Miami who raised awareness about a viral video of a neglected&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-413496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}