Dog theft in China refuted by owner, turns out 7 canines were just roaming together

Tale of dogs’ epic escape from thieves refuted by owner

Earlier in March, seven dogs in China have taken the internet by storm after the epic tale of their journey went viral.

While they were initially reported to have escaped from a thief and travelled 17km back home, the owner and villagers later denied the rumour.

Instead, they said that the animals only left after a female dog went into heat.

Reporters visited the village to interview the owner

Local reporters who investigated the incident spoke to witnesses in the suburban villages of Changchun between 19 and 21 March.

In one of the villages, they managed to locate the owner of one of the dogs.

It was then revealed that they were neither strays nor stolen, but belonged to two or three related households in the village and had been long-time family pets.

She said houses in the village are scattered, and pets are usually raised in a free-roaming manner, without being tied or restrained.

The seven dogs, including a German Shepherd, a golden retriever, and a corgi, played together every day and were exceptionally close.

Whether going for a stroll or wandering the village, they always moved as a pack, said the villager.

Animals followed one another and wandered to the main road

While the villagers could not definitively explain how the dogs wandered onto the highway, they said that there was no plot involving dog thieves.

However, they explained that one of the dogs, the German Shepherd, happened to be in heat.

It is then believed that the other six dogs instinctively followed her.

The villager asserted that the free-roaming dogs had not broken out of cages, neither had they evaded thieves.

Netizens came up with the narrative, said villagers

Speaking to local reporters, the witness who was the first to post the video revealed that they never saw a suspicious transport vehicle, or suspicious individuals.

They also never saw the dogs jumping off a truck.

The “theft and escape” narrative was merely a personal guess they made.

Shocked by the virality of the video, they never expected that a simple speculation would be forwarded, processed, and amplified by netizens.

Dogs are usually allowed to roam freely

Reporters also followed up on the dogs’ status, which was entirely different from the “miserable fugitive” state portrayed online.

When the owners realised the dogs had wandered off, they were not overly anxious.

In the village, free-roaming dogs occasionally wander out for a while and usually return home on their own once they are tired.

Therefore, the owners simply kept an eye out around the village and did not launch an extensive search.

Local volunteers who accompanied reporters to the village also encountered the seven dogs — noting that they were in high spirits, clean and tidy, and all wearing collars.

Also read: 7 dogs in China travel around 17km to return home together after escaping from dog thief

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Featured image adapted from RIZUKO0011 on YouTube and @城市晚报 on Douyin.