In late March 2026, a video appearing to show seven dogs that were supposedly walking home after going missing in China went viral online.
The video appeared on X, Reddit, TikTok and other platforms. The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's paper of record, reported that the clip racked up more than 230 million views in China. Social media users — and news outlets — claimed the dogs escaped thieves
Snopes readers wrote in to express skepticism over the video's legitimacy, with one saying, "Looks AI to me." Another reader asked whether the story had "any validity."
The evidence indicates this video is legitimate footage of a group of dogs in China's northeastern Jilin province: There are no obvious indicators of artificial intelligence, and the official Jilin culture and tourism bureau, which posted a video about the incident, did not dispute that the clip showed actual dogs. Chinese media and a local rescue group also shared pictures of a lost-dog notice and videos of some of the dogs reuniting with their owners. The Guardian, a reputable U.K-based news outlet with reporters in China, also reported on the video as legitimate.
As for the story, however, there's no credible evidence the dogs escaped thieves of any sort. The Jilin tourism bureau video and Chinese media said the dogs were not stolen. "The truth behind the escape of seven dogs in Changchun has come out: The 'inspirational story' turned into a 'love story.' It was a German shepherd in heat attracting other dogs to follow it. #PlotTwist," the video's headline read in Chinese.
Given that the footage itself is real but the story has no basis in fact, we have rated this video as miscaptioned.
Here's everything we know about this canine chronicle:
Origin of video
Chinese media reported that a man identified as "鲁先生" (Mr. Lu) first posted the clip after spotting the dogs while driving on an expressway in Jilin province.
Other Chinese media credited a content creator named "冯伟" (Feng Wei), whose video of the dogs on Douyin — China's TikTok — received more than 160,000 likes. A story from China's City Evening News said a person traveling with Feng released the video originally but it did not attract much attention. It's possible that person was Lu, but the article does not name who was with Feng. It was not possible to reach Feng or Lu.
Feng later also posted the video, this time with "automatically selected background music" which "unexpectedly complemented the visuals," and the video took off, according to City Evening News.
Amid speculation that the video was staged, Feng reportedly said the behavior of the dogs, such as their rapport with one another, could not be faked, even by trained animals.
According to a March 20 story from China's Dahe Daily, Lu told reporters he saw the dogs around 7 p.m. March 15, and the remote location and the dogs' behavior made him suspect they were pets that had gone missing, rather than strays.
"They looked like a group of little brothers in distress, with that sort of helpless feeling. The pack of dogs had a formation, with the German shepherd in the middle and the small dogs surrounding them," Lu said in the Dahe Daily story.
Speculation spread as fact
Dahe Daily reported that Lu uploaded the video to "ask for help" because he was worried the dogs might get hit by cars or cause accidents as drivers tried to avoid them.
After the video went viral, Lu commented that the dogs "must have run out of a vehicle transporting dogs," according to Dahe Daily. Lu reportedly later clarified that he did not personally witness the dogs escaping from any sort of vehicle or cage. Dahe Daily said the claims online about the dogs escaping from thieves were then spread online as factual, rather than speculation.
A volunteer with a stray dog rescue group, identified as "童女士" (Ms. Tong) reportedly told China's Jimu News that she went door to door in nearby villages asking around and posting flyers after it snowed in Changchun on March 18, prompting concern that the dogs might freeze to death. The rescue group, called "苦咖啡流浪狗基地" (Bitter Coffee Stray Dog Sanctuary), corroborated this in a March 21 video with Tong (shared with Snopes by Guardian reporter Amy Hawkins).
An image of the flyer published by Jimu News said the dogs were spotted "about 17 kilometers from Shuangyang District on the Chuangshuang Expressway," which may explain where the "17 kilometers" claim came from.
Jilin News Network reported on March 23 that the video of the dogs was taken 4 or 5 kilometers from the village, "which is not the '17-kilometer escape through wind and snow' that is circulating online."
5 of 7 dogs reportedly home
Guided by villagers, Tong found the owner of three of the dogs, who remained anonymous in the Jimu News story, reportedly because the village did not want people to show up to visit the dogs and be a disturbance.
The owner said the corgi, German shepherd and golden retriever were hers and allowed to roam freely in the countryside. She reportedly told Jimu News she searched for four days and almost gave up when the corgi ran home on its own the afternoon of March 18 (the date differs in other articles). She then went to search the surrounding villages and found five dogs confined in someone's yard.
The rescue group said in its March 21 video that five of the seven dogs had returned home after visiting the corgi's owner, who was neighbors with the owners of two of the other dogs. The shelter's volunteers did not see the final two dogs and did not know their whereabouts.
The corgi's name, according to Jimu News and the rescue group, was "大胖" (Dapang), or "Big
The rescue group also posted a March 19 video on Douyin of the dogs appearing to reunite with an owner whose face is censored.
Jilin tourism bureau says no dogs were stolen
On March 21, the Jilin Province Department of Culture and Tourism posted a video on its
The video includes the original clip of the dogs and what appear to be real clips of the dogs reuniting with their owners, as well as AI-generated additions, as noted by a disclaimer in the video. It also addresses associated claims, including that the German shepherd was injured and being protected by the other dogs.
Here's the full video's transcript (translated into English by a Snopes reporter):
FENG: I was on the Chuangshan Expressway on March 15 when I saw seven little dogs. But when I saw these seven little dogs, they were walking together, they all had their own roles. There were those exploring the way ahead, and those protecting. These dogs, they were very familiar with each other. They seemed quite amiable, they weren't aggressive to people. Every dog, including the
wolfdog [German shepherd] — its eyes were also particularly kind. When I looked at it, it didn't seem fierce. NARRATOR: The truth came later. It's been confirmed that this wasn't a mass dog escape — the German shepherd was in heat. This attracted the village's dogs, which usually roam freely. They wandered far away together. The leader is a rather smart corgi. The corgi led the group home.
The German shepherd and the golden retriever were temporarily taken in by villagers from a neighboring village. Later, they were retrieved by the owners, one by one. The owners love their dogs. The German shepherd was not injured. When it got home, to prevent it from getting lost again while in heat, it was temporarily tethered. The other dogs have returned home.
In sum …
While the video legitimately shows seven dogs walking alongside a highway in northeastern China, there's no evidence to indicate the dogs escaped an illegal transport truck or any illegal activity. Jilin's official tourism bureau said the dogs wandered away from home while following a German shepherd in heat. According to Chinese media, at least five of the seven dogs safely returned home, led by the corgi in the video.