Claim:   Photographs show an orphaned fawn being cared for by a pet dog.

Status:   Undetermined.

Example:   [Collected on the Internet, 2003]

A woman found the fawn under her step (they think the doe might have been hit by a car) ... her Ridgeback dog is helping look after it. The family named the fawn Bella. Once she has regained her strength (she was not in good shape when the family found her) they are going to send her to some friends who (in the past) raised two orphan deer and released them to the wild. Right now she is being bottle fed. Their dog Hogan has basically taken over. The fawn even shares his bed.

Origins:   The pictures displayed above seem genuine enough, and the story that accompanies them is not implausible. (Domesticated dogs and cats have been known to raise and care for orphaned young of other species.) Since we don't yet know the source of these photographs, however, we can't be sure whether the accompanying text correctly matches the pictures.

The photos of the fawn and dog are often circulated along with another picture of a fawn alone, but the latter photograph appears to be a picture of a different fawn taken in a different time and place.

Last updated:   4 January 2005

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