​A Rescue Dog in 2014 Falsely Linked to the Recent Turkey Earthquake

After last month’s devastating earthquake in Turkey in which people were killed, several injured, a photo shows a dog posted on social media with the claim that this dog saved the lives of up to 10 people after the earthquake. Such claims have been circulated and reacted many times by Khmer-speaking Facebook users recently. However, Fact Crescendo Cambodia’s fact-finding mission has found that the claim posted on social media above is false.

This is about our investigation of this photo.

Social Media Claim

On February 13, 2023, one of the local Facebook pages recently posted a photo showing a dog that is white and smeared with mud. The photo posted above is linked to the claim that the dog rescued the victims of up to 10 people who were injured in an earthquake in Turkey.

The claim attached to the photo was shared several times by social media users, along with comments and mixed reactions as well.

The following is an image captured from the Facebook page above that read in English as “This is how a dog that after one shift of work searching through the ruins in Turkey found 10 people and saved their lives. Technology is advancing, but the smell detectors that these creatures have are still not invented by modern technology”.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia started reviewing the photos and claims above through Google Reverse Image Search, which led us to find out the following facts.

An exact photo of the dog was discovered and published by Reuters in 2014. The news agency said the dog, Tryon, was waiting at a disinfection site at a landslide after a search of the victim was in the Oso area of Washington state on March 30, 2014.

Reuters Link | Archived Link

The above case was also verified and checked by the Associated Press (AP) on February 09, 2023 recently. You may see the full content in detail here.

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You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia finds that the photo attached with the claims mentioned above are false. Tryon the rescue dog waits to go through the decontamination area at the mudslide after searching for victims in Oso, Washington March 30, 2014.