Imam kissing a dog’s paw- know the truth

The original picture dates back to 2011 and it shows a catholic priest instead of Imam. Not related to the recent Turkey-Syria earthquake.

Many posts have been shared on social media in response to the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. In which an image allegedly showing an Imam kissing the paw of a dog has been gone viral on social media with a caption “Wow! Here’s gratitude being shown to a dog in Turkey by an Imam”.

A person dressed in Islamic dress kissing the paw of a dog in front of a crowd, along with the accompanying text: “This pic is some of those best rare pics I’ve ever seen. This is Imam e Jamia mosque in Turkey kissing hand of the dog which rescued and saved lives of 3 people tangled in debris. Last line is the theme ‘only being a man doesn’t matter, what matters is sincere service, no matter by whom’.”

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Fact Check- 

We began our investigation by performing a reverse image search on Google, which led us to a Facebook post uploaded on 27 May, 2016 in Polish language, which contained an image of the dog having its paw kissed by a different man in front of the same crowd. When translated it reads “Tomasz Jaeschke is an Austrian priest and a fervent Animalist. Father bowing down to a dog on San Francisco of Assisi Day.

In further search we found the same image in an online Polish newspaper article from 27 October 2011. According to the author it shows a Polish former priest, Tomasz Jaeschke, embracing the golden retriever. Tomasz Jaeschke is an Austrian priest and fervent animalist, who have launched a personal crusade to sensitize the Church about the rights and conditions of animals. His initiative is called “Quo Vadis Vatikan”.

As a result of these evidences, it is clear that false claims are being spread on social media through a digitally altered image.The picture is more than a decade old and has been edited to include the ‘Imam’. It is unrelated to the events of the Turkey-Syria earthquake.

You can see a comparison of both images below.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral image to be Altered. The viral image has been edited to include the ‘Imam’. The original picture dates back to 2011 and it shows a catholic priest instead of Imam. Not related to the recent Turkey-Syria earthquake.