Markus Meechan was arrested after a video of his girlfriend's dog reacting to Nazi commands appeared on YouTube

A man who taught his girlfriend’s pug to give Nazi salutes when he said “gas the Jews” and “Sieg Heil” appeared in court yesterday charged with a hate crime.

Mark Meechan, 29, was arrested after he uploaded footage of the pug, called Buddha, performing the Hitler salute on to YouTube.

Ephraim Borowski, director of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, told Airdrie sheriff court that the video was grossly offensive and the Holocaust should not be joked about.

Mr Meechan, of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, denies any wrongdoing and insists that he created the footage in April last year merely to annoy his girlfriend, Suzanne Kelly, 29.

Mr Borowski, 66, told the court that he had family who had died in the Holocaust. He was shown the