Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Emotional photograph of a dog sitting sitting next to a pile of rubble as his owner was trapped claimed to show aftermath of recent Turkey earthquake
Fact Check/Verification
We did a reverse image search on the photo of a dog sitting next to a man trapped in the rubble. Our search led us to an article by the American Kennel Club posted in 2021. The article talks about how dogs in search and rescue operations find affected people.
This photograph was also uploaded on IStockphoto‘s page in 2019.
Another popular stock photo website which allows people to purchase images called Alamy.com also had the same photograph. According to Alamy, the image was taken in October 2018 by a person called Jaroslav Noska. However, the location of the image has not been provided.
Jaroslav Noska is a Czech photographer and his twitter page indicates that his focus is portraits.
In addition, the photograph featured on Alamy is captioned “Dog looking for injured people in ruins after earthquake. Captions are provided by our contributors.”
Hence, we can conclude that the viral image showing a dog sitting by a person apparently buried under a pile of rubble is being falsely connected to the recent Turkey earthquake.
Result: False
Sources
Article From, AKC, Dated October 18, 2021
IStockPhoto from January 4, 2019
Alamy.com photo from October 18, 2018
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Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
