A man has been arrested over allegations of animal abuse after he was caught on film appearing to beat a terrified dog with a pole as it desperately tried to get inside its owner's house. The video, shot from a neighbouring window, shows what seems to be a white Staffordshire bull terrier being kicked, punched in the face and repeatedly hit while a small boy looks on excitedly. Within hours of the footage being posted on social networking site Facebook, an angry mob is said to have surrounded the man's house in Grimsby, north-east Lincolnshire. Police were called to the address last night and onlookers watched as a man, believed to be the dog's owner, was arrested. In the video, the dog, whimpering to be let inside the house, is twice seen appearing to be beaten with a poles by a man at the rear door of the property. In a separate shot, the animal is then seen standing outside the door apparently whining when the door is flung open and the creature flinches in fear. Next, a woman in a bra and trousers with a towel on her head opens the door and allegedly whips the dog with a cloth before slamming the door in its face. One shot shows the dog eventually being allowed in the house, but not before cowering in terror. Finally, the most disturbing piece of footage shows a man seemingly grabbing the dog by its neck before punching it twice in the head and kicking it while a small boy appears behind him, apparently egging him on. It is claimed the man was assaulted by vigilantes angry at the footage, who smashed windows at the house and punched the man at the front door, although this has not been confirmed. One man at the property was escorted out of the house by police at about 9.20pm. The animal was taken to Grimsby Blue Cross Animal Hospital to be checked over and the RSPCA is today investigating hundreds of calls regarding the incident. A spokesman from Humberside Police said: 'We did attend last night because there was some disorder and criminal damage at the address. 'I believe the man arrested was the man seen in the footage beating the dog, which was taken to the Blue Cross Animal Hospital, in Grimsby. 'There was certainly an incident which occurred off the back of the film which was posted online.' A spokesman for the RSPCA said the charity had not been made aware of the violence which resulted from the footage being posted online and added: 'We did have a lot of calls from members of the public about it who were obviously concerned and it's been passed on to our inspectors who will be looking into it today.'