World gripped by seven stolen dogs who escaped Chinese meat factory and moved in military-style formation to help each other walk ten miles home

For two days and nights, the seven furry fugitives move as one in tight military-style formation.

He hurries across snowy fields, jogs along frozen lanes and walks determinedly on the side of a busy highway in Changchun, the capital of China’s northeastern Jilin province.

In front is an extremely sturdy corgi named Dapang, which means Big Fat.

The determined Dapang is their leader, stopping every few minutes to turn around and check on the little group of furry siblings to make sure no dogs are left behind.

On the outer edge is a shiny Golden Retriever, alert and on guard.

Other hounds include a well-groomed yellow labrador, a pekingese, two smaller dogs and an injured German shepherd who limps in the middle, but is surrounded and protected by his companions who are attuned to his pace.

They are all hungry and cold, but as the world famous story goes, they are saved from almost certain death thanks to a dog meat truck, and nothing can deter them from their quest to return home.

Certainly not a well-intentioned man named Lu, who spotted them on the highway on March 16, tried to steer them away from danger, and when that failed, posted a video of their daring journey on Douyin (China’s most popular video app), calling for local authorities to intervene.

The group was led by an extremely valiant corgi named Dapang, meaning big fat; They hurried across snowy fields and ran down frozen roads before reaching the road.

Or another passerby notices the dogs moving through nearby fields and takes more footage.

Or drones buzzing overhead, sent by volunteers to track animals and guide them home.

They want to reach their quiet village, far from the hubbub of the city, where they live with their loving families and spend time together on the streets.

And, we are told, they were kidnapped by thieves four days ago and shipped to the provinces where dog meat served with ginger, garlic and rice wine in a winter stew is a local ‘delicacy’.

Thanks to Lu’s video, which has now been viewed more than 230 million times, this brave pack has become global stars; People all over the world marveled at such an epic display of canine courage, canine determination and endurance.

‘My heart can’t handle this,’ writes Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump’s press secretary.

‘Get Disney on the phone now!’ adds another user.

A third says: ‘This Corgi story is the last pure thing in the world right now.’ ‘If this isn’t true, I’m going to die.’

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but a closer look reveals that some of the finer details of this epic story of canine daring don’t quite come together.

So let’s go back to March 14, when seven dogs belonging to three households in the same village went missing, allegedly kidnapped by dog ​​meat thieves and sped away in a truck, according to the South China Morning Post.

The Post also claimed that sometime after this, possibly on March 16, and at least ten miles away by then, the hounds made their great escape, somehow managing to break out of their cages, jump out of a moving truck onto the Changshuang Expressway, and fall into freezing temperatures.

And then surprisingly, instead of fleeing in every direction in panic, they clung to each other. I made a plan. And he appointed a surprisingly small leader – little Dapang – ostensibly to lead them to safety.

To many of us, Big Fat, with his sturdy low body, funny ears and short legs, seems like an unlikely leader.

But according to Fenella Nicholas, dog psychologist, trainer, and author of Be More Dog, authority in dog circles has little to do with barking or biting.

‘For dogs, it’s all about energy, so they will follow the dog that is calm and assertive; “They will follow the dog that is weak or not authoritarian,” he says.

China is known as a country that consumes dog meat in some parts of the country, with the ‘lychee and dog meat’ festival held in Yulin every June (Image: A vendor apparently selling dogs in Yulin city on 21 June 2016)

Their navigation, meanwhile, comes from the extraordinary sense of direction they inherited from wolves: scent blending (they have 300 million olfactory receptors compared to our 12 million), spatial memory, visual perception, and even the ability to tap into the Earth’s magnetic field, a built-in compass like migratory birds and sea turtles, according to recent research.

Whatever they relied on here worked. Because, as the story goes, on March 18, with the owner on the verge of giving up after a frantic four-day search, a severely emaciated Big Fat returned to the house’s kitchen.

Shortly after, volunteers confirmed that all seven dogs had returned home safely after walking at least ten miles off the highway without food or water.

One of the owners was reportedly on hand to return them safely.

‘We’re very lucky they came back undefeated,’ he said.

What a story! What an amazing, epic, unrivaled adventure! No wonder it has warmed the hearts of so many people around the world and sparked exciting conversations about TV shows, dog food sponsorships and a blockbuster movie.

But could some people have closed their minds to competing theories that attempt to explain the images? That they were stolen to be sold as pets instead of food? Or were they lost?

Maybe. Because none of this could make a better story. And also because we all know that some Chinese eat dogs and that many Westerners rejoice at Big Fat’s plight, corgi and friends have shed light on the country’s illegal dog meat trade and primitive animal welfare laws.

In fact, a ‘lychee and dog meat’ festival is held in Yulin every year in June.

Finally, on Tuesday, Chinese media company Ifeng News spoiled things a bit by saying: “The viral story of seven puppies running away from a dog thief and returning 17 km back home” impressed many people on the internet, but… the reality is a little different. Absolutely no dog thieves.

‘A German shepherd in heat led a group of village dogs on a ‘runaway adventure,’ the owner said. They weren’t 17 km away from home either, just under 4 km. “There were no injuries, the shepherd was fine.”

So could it all be wildly exaggerated? Maybe we’ll never know. And at least the dogs don’t care; they’re just happy to be home and curled up in bed after all the fuss.