A jaw-dropping animal rescue video was praised online… so why was it deleted from TikTok??
The video in question features a man racing across train tracks to rescue a dog which had been tied to the tracks as an oncoming locomotive approached (not pictured above). While he was racing to the rescue, other men, one of which was filming from an overpass, yelled with an Australian accent:
“Oh my God, he’s on the track! Get off the track!”
As the situation grew even more tense, someone also added:
“Bro just leave it there! Leave it!”
The “it” referring to the poor animal (believed to be a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) about to get crushed by the oncoming train.
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Thankfully, nobody was harmed as the “hero” was able to untie the dog from the tracks and remove them both from harm’s way in the nick of time. We’re talking last second save here! See what we’re talking about in the re-uploaded video (below):
@random_crap.69
Pretty incredible, right?
The internet seemed to agree as the video was viewed more than four million times, with many dubbing the rescuer a “legend” and a “hero” for risking his life to protect the pup. As to be expected, lots of others felt something was off with the video, chiming in:
“Either photoshopped or scripted”
“Anyone else think it was edited?”
A group of professionals is now siding with the skeptics! Yahoo News chatted about the clip with Professor Hany Farid, the Associate Dean at Berkeley University who also happens to be one of six founding members of TikTok’s Content Advisory Council. He’s also the developer of a forensic software tech company used to combat child exploitation and terrorism — so he’s done some pretty important work in teh field! And he’s using those same skills to break down why the TikTok might not be real.
While discussing with the outlet on Sunday, he insisted:
“I am fairly certain this video is fake.”
Using his software programming, he was able to find inconsistencies between the man’s shadow and the shadows of other objects in the scene, something that can be “very difficult” to the average eye since our senses can be “quite blind” to these kinds of errors.
Through his research, he determined the clip of the man and train were likely shot at different times of the day based on the angle of the sun, explaining:
“The shadow of the man purportedly on the tracks is inconsistent with the lighting in the rest of the scene.”
See what he’s talking about by viewing photos of his analysis HERE! If that scientific answer isn’t enough to convince you the video was fake, Sarah Ross from Four Paws International, an animal welfare charity, thinks the dog’s behavior is a prime reason the video isn’t real; she explained:
“The way the dog reacts like he knows the guy, and that (the man) knows how to untie the leash, all as if it was planned.”
Regardless of the man, the dog also seemed too relaxed when a large vehicle was headed its way! We’d think most animals would have been squirming around or at least barking at the terrifying train! Ross concluded:
“It looks suspicious.”
So wait… if the video really is fake, why did the app remove it? They actually took it down despite it probably being fake.
TikTok’s community guidelines are pretty strict when it comes to depictions of dangerous activities — and even if there may not have been any real imminent danger, they still felt like it crossed the lines. A spokesperson told Yahoo:
“The safety and wellbeing of our community is our top priority. Our community guidelines make it clear that we do not allow content depicting dangerous behavior that might lead to injury.”
Could this lead to daredevils trying to outrace trains without the benefit of clever editing? That seems to be the issue. Hmm.
Reactions, Perezcious readers? Kinda crazy this video was likely made just for some guys to gain notoriety… but you know what? Good job with the filmmaking we guess — we were definitely fooled!
Ultimately, we’re just glad that dog was probably never in any real danger!!
The post Video Shows 'Hero' Rescuing Dog From Train Tracks At Last Possible Second — So Why Was It Removed From TikTok?? appeared first on Perez Hilton.
