FACT CHECK: Is this image of a loyal dog Capitan in Argentina? Find out the Truth..

Having dogs as pets is a long-term practice in many parts of the world. The dogs are reputed to have much loyalty to their owners. Some social media posts have misleading claims related to pet dogs and here is yet another investigation into such a claim which has gone viral in many parts of the world

Social Media Posts

A Facebook user added a photo of a dog laying on a grave at a cemetery. The social media user claimed the dog’s name is Captain and that it has slept at the grave of its owner every night for six years. The photo with the claim has been virally shared on social media along with a mixture of comments and reactions.

Below is a capture of the Facebook user’s post in a social media group read:

“For the past 6 years, a dog named Capitan has slept in the grave of his owner every night. His owner, Miguel Guzman died in 2006 and Capitan disappeared shortly after the family attended the funeral services. They searched everywhere and put out flyers to try and find him. But no one had seen him.

A week later, some people who were at the cemetery late one evening spotted Capitan laying on the grave and they contacted the groundskeeper at the cemetery. The cemetery notified the family who promptly came to pick him up and take him home. But each night he would cry and scratch frantically at the door to go out and he wouldn't return home until morning. It was later discovered that Capitan would walk the 3 miles back to the cemetery each night to guard his master's grave.

It has been 7 years now. The cemetery does not close the gates until he arrives each night promptly at 6 pm. He sleeps there all night guarding the grave until the groundkeeper opens the gate in the morning. This is a true picture of Capitan here.”

Facebook | Archived

Below are some of the instances where the same image had been shared among Facebook users.

Due to the curious nature of these posts, we decided to do an investigation over this.

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Sri Lanka began the investigation by running Google Reverse Image and keyword search in Google, which led to the real facts about the dog named Capitan and its real images.

The story of the dog Capitan was published by Argentinian media LaVoz in 2012, saying it lived in Carlos Paz City. LaVoz reported “Capitan” disappeared from the house just days after its owner died in 2006. However, some weeks later, the family members went to see the grave of the owner, and both the widower and son of the owner identified their dog who was laying on the grave that day.

After that day, they eventually went on some other days, and the dog followed them home. But the dog never stayed at the home all day, and it always returned to the grave of the owner to guard it. Despite the fact that the story of the social media has some accuracy, the image of the dog that was published in social media posts is misleading the public.

LaVoz | Archived

Here is a comparison of the actual dog named Capitan who is a Black & White German Shepherd and the image of the yellow Labrador published in viral social media posts

A video which was published in 2012 regarding the Captain can be viewed from the link below.

However, in 2018, the dog Capitan also passed away after staying years by its owner’s grave at night times to protect the grave. A description about Capitan’s final days can be read from here, or the archived file here.

A fact check done by another institute can be read from here and here. While the origins of the image used for social media claims are not clear, it’s evident that the actual dog related to the narrative was a Black German Shepherd.

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Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Sri Lanka found out that the photo mentioned in the claim related to the dog named Caption visiting its master’s grave every night is misleading. The photo, being shared in viral social media posts, does not depict the real dog related with the narration.

The story itself has actually reported facts, however, it's reported that the German shepherd dog named Caption would stay most of the time near his master’s grave and not necessarily visit the graveyard only at night. Caption died in 2018 and the misleading image used in the viral posts is of an unrelated Labrador dog.

Also Read: Is This A Dog Guarding Over Its Master’s Grave? Find Out The Truth!