There’s been some contention on the Internet about a video showing a German shepherd moving an object out of the path of a blind man. What is being questioned is the intent of the dog. Did he perform his actions untrained, or was the video staged for some reason?

A confusing video

When the video was initially shared by the Twitter account of the Police Commissioner of Pune City in India, it was initially called an eyewitness account. But to some viewers of the video, the dog seemed to be performing on command, which called into question whether the dog’s actions were authentic or not.

Helping out a blind man

In the video, as a dog and his owner walk, they pass a blind man. The dog turns around and removes a large branch from the path of the blind person to keep him from tripping.

Some wanted to believe that the dog’s actions were genuine, while others were more skeptical.

The message of the video is clear

Ultimately, it is the message behind the video, fake or not, that is meaningful: You should help those around you whenever the chance presents itself. Many watching the video commented that the dog showed more humanity in the video than the person walking him.

After all was said and done, the video does come across as a public service announcement. Regardless of the true intentions behind the video, it is a sweet sentiment nonetheless.

Do dogs go out of their way to help people?

Believe it or not, dogs can and do go out of their way to help people out. While some of this behavior is trained, such as with seeing-eye dogs and other service dogs, dogs are known to be empathetic creatures. When they notice their owners feeling down or in need somehow, they usually try their best to help.

This can take the form of some much-needed cuddle time, seeking help when someone is in trouble, or bringing their owner what they seek in their time of need. Dogs, while trained to do so, can also turn on lights for their owner, open doors, or even help pull them up steep inclines if they are wheelchair-bound.

Fake or not, the video has a good message

Dogs are truly man’s best friend and do what they can to make us happy. The ability to train them doesn’t hurt when trying to get them to do a particular task to help out their owner or someone else, even a stranger. Plus, there are many stories of heroic dogs doing things spontaneously to help people out.

And while the intention of the video is not entirely clear, it does prove its point perfectly. As a sign of its popularity, the video has gotten over 965,000 views so far and more than 29,000 likes. You can watch the video below and judge for yourself whether it is real or not.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Humanity
pic.twitter.com/cjXdfpa8zi

— CP Pune City Police (@CPPuneCity) July 4, 2020

Source: Twitter/CP Pune City

H/T: I Heart Dogs, PetFriendly