This is NOT a dog that got disfigured while trying to rescue his owner from a fire! Find Out the Facts

Dogs are considered loyal pets who often form a close bond with their master. There are many legacies about the friendship between dogs and humans. However, some of those stories are not true. This is our investigation of such a fabricated story.

Social Media Posts

Social media posts based on an image try to convince that a dog got disfigured while trying to rescue its owner from a fire.

Facebook| Archived

Users commented on these posts like below.

We decided to do an investigation into it.

Fact Check

From a keyword search and a reverse image search, we found out that this dog's name is "Phoenix." Furthermore, the story of the Phoenix was published on several fact-checking sites and news websites.

The people at Skiatook Paws and Claws Animal Rescue(SPCAR) in Skiatook, Oklahoma, United States, didn't hesitate to take the street dog, Phoenix, in, determined to help a dog who had suffered a great deal. The incident happened in 2019. But unfortunately, the rescue team had no idea about the dog's background or where it came from.

Since then, they have made great efforts to find and treat this dog's illnesses. Finally, in 2020, there was a post on SPCAR's Facebook page stating the diseases and health situation of the death. According to them, the disfigure of the dog is caused by a rare autoimmune illness named Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).

"Phoenix has a rare auto-immune disease, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). There are no specific tests to identify SLE. This disease is diagnosed after all other diseases are ruled out. Because it is an auto-immune disease, his own body attacks itself, making treatment sometimes difficult and tricky. But thank goodness for all the vets (here in Owasso and Kansas, too). We now have his disease managed.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement. Phe would have never made his courageous journey without you."

Archived

More details about this dog can be read here. Archived

A fact check done by another organization can be read here. Archived

And no credible reports stated that the dog got disfigured because it tried to rescue its owner from a fire.

To get the current status of a dog, we contacted the SPCAR, and according to their response, we will update this article.

Read this article in Sinhala, here

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Conclusion

Our investigation revealed that the dog in the viral video is a dog called "phoenix" who was rescued by the animal welfare charity SPCAR in Oklahoma, United States. There was no credible evidence to support the claims that a fire disfigured a dog's body while trying to rescue its owner from a fire.

According to veterans, the dog suffers from a rare autoimmune disease named Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), and that's the reason for the disfiguration.