SUDBURY -- The animal cruelty charge against a Sudbury man at the centre of a widely circulated video that sparked outrage on social media last fall has been dropped.

A 62-year-old man was arrested and charged on Oct. 25 by Sudbury police, after a video surfaced of him struggling with a German Shepherd while out on a walk in a New Sudbury neighbourhood.

Now, Emilie Smith, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General, tells CTV News the charge of willfully causing unnecessary suffering to an animal was withdrawn on July 8.

Christine Denis, the group leader at the Superior and Ontario Courts of Justice Criminal Administration Office, tells CTV News the court record from the July 8 proceeding heard by Justice R.W. Lalande shows the charge was withdrawn because the accused had "successfully completed diversion."

"The record does not indicate what the terms of the diversion were," said Denis.

The man that recorded the video that led to the initial charge previously told CTV News the man's wife tried to explain her husband's actions shortly after the video was posted online.

"The wife has been by the neighbourhood and claims her husband is innocent and that it was blown out of context," he said. "She also says the dog was giving him a hard time."

Upon hearing the charge has been dropped, the man that recorded the video expressed his disappointment.

"How can someone get away with animal abuse? Where’s the justice for the dog," he said. "This is so sad. They are basically saying it’s okay to do this. That’s wrong."

CTV News has reached out to the man who is no longer facing the charge for comment.