A Hoax Gets Started

A hoax can get started with maybe a grain of truth.

I recently received an email about a dog leading so many folks to safety during the attack of 9/11. It was very well done, with a picture of the heroic dog included. The Hoax.

It was a stirring story, except it wasn't true. I usually check to see if stories are really true, but since this wasn't of the murdering madmen variety or any one of the type I usually get, I didn't check it out.  When someone brought my attention to the fact that it was a hoax, it burned me up.  There were clues in the original email that if I had checked, I would have known something was not kosher.

The email said the dog led some of those folks from the 112nd floor.  But how many people actually know that each tower had 110 floors? I didn't!

I should have known that if this story was really true, it would surely have been televised at least once!

Now I wonder if this hoax was based on another story (which may or may not be true) about a guide dog on 9/11. Guide Dog Led Owner Down Stairs on 9/11

The reference to this story (Excerpted from Ventura County Star, April 25, 2003) does not seem to be availble.  At least I didn't find it.

So maybe, since this article is to 'persuade people to raise guide puppies', the elaborate hoax about Daisy may have been done in order to get more people to raise guide puppies.  Unfortunately in this cas the untruth may have had the effect of making folks mad instead of getting the attention the hoaxer wanted.

Of course there is always the possiblility that someone just wants to 'be funny' and see how far the hoax will spread.

Martha