What was claimed
A photograph shows a dog found injured following a hit and run in Balham in south London.
Our verdict
The dog pictured in the post was fatally injured in Newport News, Virginia in 2017.
Dog supposedly hit by a car in south London actually died in the US in 2017
28 February 2023
A Facebook post (warning: contains distressing image) claiming that a dog has been found injured after a hit and run in Balham, south London, actually features a photo of a dog which was fatally injured in the US several years ago.
The post, shared on 23 February, says: “Balham HELP, I found this poor dog lying on the side road. He was hit by a car in a hit and run incident. I took him to the vet he is not chipped I know someone is looking for him. Please bump this post, let’s help out the poor guy. [sic]”
However, the image accompanying the post actually shows a dog named Fenway, who sadly died in 2017 from injuries sustained in an incident in Newport News, Virginia.
The image in question featured in local news reports at the time.
We’ve fact checked a number of similar hoax posts circulating on Facebook about injured or lost animals. Often these posts will be edited after reaching a large audience, so that they advertise surveys or housing websites instead.
Image courtesy of Solen Feyissa
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the dog pictured in the post was fatally injured in the US in 2017.