Russia, dead dogs and a false image

“What a scandal,” Frank murmurs. He asks me if I've seen it yet.

The whole world is watching dogs being killed in Russia. Frank hands me his cell phone, I look at this small picture, which has poor resolution. You can hardly see any details, but you can clearly see a man aiming a gun at a dog. As a status message for this picture I read there:

The World Cup starts in a few weeks and the whole world is watching. Where does the world look at these pictures?

I hand Frank his smartphone back. He's angry and leaves a scowling emoji under the status message, but before he can share the message, I ask him if he's sure that this photo actually comes from Russia and has something to do with the upcoming World Cup.

Frank looks at me questioningly. Questioning and also a little funny. I know that look, it has that defensive “do you think I’m stupid?” in itself. Looking ahead, I tell him that I just have this feeling that I've seen this photo before. Of course it's a lie, I'm just playing poker.

Image search

I get my notebook to do an image search. Admittedly, I've never done an image search on my cell phone, so maybe I should write a description here on how you can do it fairly easily on your cell phone. Briefly repeat how to get to the image search:

You can open the image search on Google either directly via the address https://www.google.at/imghp or alternatively via the search engine's homepage by clicking on the term “Images” in the top right. A slightly different input area opens (in both cases). You will find the note “Google Images” and a small symbol in the shape of a camera will appear in the input field.

For my part, it's particularly easy because the image search is available directly via a selection point in the Google Chrome browser and its relatives. You simply right-click on the image you are looking for and select “Search for this image in Google” in the dialog window that opens. This is actually the easiest way, but not every browser supports it.

The result

Not Russia. Not World Cup. The image was used quite frequently 8 years ago. What is certain: it comes from Iraq, an article from the Austrian newspaper Die Presse shows this photo in a much higher resolution. This article from July 10, 2010 states:

In the Iraqi capital, up to 20 teams of police and veterinarians take action against street dogs every day. The killings are attributed to an increase in fatal dog attacks.

I show Frank the result. It annoys him a little because he's already gone into outrage mode inside. “But it could be that this wouldn’t be the first time that dogs have been killed before a World Cup!” I know what Frank means, I also understand his reasoning. This is called whataboutism. He tries to justify something wrong because another (similar) case was true.

And these reports that Frank is referring to are of course true. The World Cup in Russia is not the first sporting event in the run-up to which street dogs were killed and which attracted criticism. For example, in the run-up to the 2012 European Championship you could read the following (quote source: Welt , November 9, 2011):

They are poisoned, shot or burned: UEFA has called the mass killing of street dogs in Ukraine in the run-up to the European Championships into action.

There are also many reports from reputable sources about dog killings on the Internet regarding the upcoming World Cup in Russia. In the Frankfurter Rundschau from March 23, 2018, the headline “Dog war in Russia” reads:

There is dog war in Russia. Just before the World Cup, which starts in June, there are increasing reports of a campaign of extermination against stray four-legged friends.

Conclusion

Frank looks at me questioningly. What now, what now? Of course it is his right if he wants to vent his outrage a little, but not with pictures that have nothing to do with the situation. This ends up damaging the discussion and giving it a bland “fake” aftertaste.

Ultimately, of course, Frank posted something else on the topic, but not this picture, which has nothing to do with Russia, but he linked the article from the Frankfurter Rundschau and wrote his opinion on the topic. So he should be on the safe side.