Where Are All the Leftists? The Silence Around HasanAbi’s Dog Controversy

It’s honestly been bothering me — the near-total silence from leftists and progressives about the HasanAbi dog situation. Like, where is everyone? Where are all the people who claim to care about compassion, about justice, about standing up for the voiceless? Because right now, it feels like the only people openly discussing the alleged mistreatment of Hasan’s dog are right-wingers and centrists. And that’s not a good look.

Let’s be real — Hasan Piker isn’t just any streamer. He’s the face of the online left. The biggest political streamer on Twitch. The guy that millions of people look up to as the voice of progressivism online. So when a controversy like this breaks out — where he’s accused of hurting his dog, or at least treating it in a way that looked cruel — it shouldn’t be something leftists sweep under the rug. It shouldn’t be something brushed off, minimized, or ignored.

But that’s exactly what seems to be happening. The left has gone quiet. Some are pretending like it’s not happening at all — just business as usual, posting about other topics as if nothing happened. Others are doing mental gymnastics to defend him, calling the clip “taken out of context” or “manipulated,” despite how clearly distressing it was to watch. And then there are those who default to whataboutisms — “Well, what about Gaza?” “What about the suffering in the world?” As if caring about one issue means you can’t care about another.

Here’s the thing though: empathy doesn’t work that way. Compassion isn’t selective. If we, as progressives, truly believe in being kind, in standing against cruelty, then that shouldn’t stop at national borders or political convenience. It should extend to all beings — humans, animals, everyone. If the left can’t call out one of its biggest figures for potentially harming or exploiting his own dog, then what does that say about us? What does that say about our movement’s integrity?

I’m not saying Hasan is guilty — but I am saying the silence is telling. The hesitancy to even question him, to even discuss what’s on video, is deeply concerning. Because if we can’t hold our own accountable, then how are we any better than the systems we criticize?

The truth is, whether or not he actually abused his dog, the optics were bad. The yelp was painful to hear. The delay in showing the collar was suspicious. And keeping the dog confined for hours during streams — that’s not the mark of someone prioritizing the animal’s comfort. It looked careless at best, exploitative at worst. Yet hardly anyone on the left wants to acknowledge that.

And that’s the bigger issue here — not just what Hasan might have done, but how the community responds. Accountability can’t be selective. If the left is only loud when a right-wing figure does something wrong, and completely silent when it’s “one of our own,” then we’ve lost credibility. We’ve lost the moral high ground we claim to hold.

It’s not about canceling Hasan or joining in the right-wing dogpile — it’s about consistency. It’s about proving that compassion isn’t partisan. That abuse, exploitation, or even the appearance of cruelty deserves to be questioned no matter who it comes from.

And yet, here we are — with leftists either defending him blindly, mocking the controversy, or pretending it’s irrelevant. And that honestly makes me sad. Because I know so many leftists do care about animals, about ethics, about holding powerful people accountable. But when it comes to someone as big and influential as Hasan, it’s like all that courage evaporates.

So I’ll say what most won’t: this silence isn’t strength. It’s not “nuance.” It’s complicity. If we want a movement that stands for real empathy, we can’t pick and choose when to use it.

Hasan’s dog deserves empathy. Viewers who are concerned deserve to be heard, not mocked. And leftists who feel uncomfortable defending this should say so. Because if we don’t — if we let the right monopolize criticism — then we’re just reinforcing their narrative that “the left never holds their own accountable.”

It doesn’t have to be that way. We can be better. We should be better. Calling out potentially harmful behavior, even from people we like, isn’t betrayal — it’s integrity.

So where are the leftists willing to speak up? Because silence, in moments like this, speaks volumes.