A Scottish man who taught his girlfriend’s dog to salute like a Nazi whenever he said “gas the Jews” or “Heil Hitler” has denied committing a hate crime.

Mark Meechan, 29, was arrested last year accused of teaching the pug, Buddha, to raise its paw like a Nazi salute and posting the footage on his YouTube channel under the heading “M8 yer dugs a Nazi.”

The dog was also filmed intently watching Adolf Hitler address a Nazi rally in the film ‘Olympia,’ which documents the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936.

He is currently on trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court.

Meechan, from Coatbridge in Lanarkshire, Scotland, has been accused of communicating material that would cause fear and alarm, and stirring up hatred on religious grounds by posting a clip online which was “anti-Semitic in nature.”

Meechan also faces an alternative charge of posting a video on social media and YouTube which was grossly offensive. The prosecution claims it was aggravated by “religious prejudice.”

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PC Colin Duff, 31, played the video of the pug in court, saying that it was still widely available to users and was continuing to rack up thousands of hits a day. It has now been viewed more than 2.9 million times.

Meechan can be heard in the video saying he only got the dog to do it to annoy his girlfriend.

At the start of the clip he says: “My girlfriend is always ranting and raving about how cute and adorable her wee dog is so I thought I would turn him into the least cute thing I could think of, which is a Nazi.”

The court was also shown a video of Meechan saying he is “not a racist at all.”

“I’m freaked out because everyone’s going to actually think that I hate Jews now and I don’t at all. I’m kind of panicked about it. Honestly, I don’t hate anyone. The whole purpose of this was just to annoy my girlfriend.

“I just want everyone to know that I don’t wish any ill-will on any race or anything, it’s just how shock comedy works.”

The trial has now been adjourned until later this year.