Man Asks For Twitter's Help To Find Owner Of Lost Puppy, Gets A Surprise

A Japanese man recently came across a lost puppy sitting by the road. Hoping to reunite it with its owner, the man took the puppy home and decided to ask for Twitter's help in locating its owner. In doing so, he received a surprise he probably hadn't expected. 

Twitter user "@marcy_com" said he found the puppy sitting on the roadside in Tsukigata, a town in Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture. He shared four photos of the little furball, whom he named Luna, while asking for help in locating its owner. While many commented to admire the puppy, some raised doubts about its species and suggested that it might actually be a fox or a wolf cub, instead of a dog. 

"Isn't this a fox? You should put it back where you picked it from," wrote one Twitter user.

"Puppy? It looks like a member of the weasel family," another said.

One Twitter user asked if the pup was a tanuki or a raccoon dog.

【拡散希望】
本日14:30頃、月形町の国道275号の路側帯にいた子犬を保護しました。
セブンイレブンを札幌方向に向かって少し進んだあたりです。(信号手前)

病院に連れていったところ
・生後１～２ヶ月
・女の子
とのこと

心当たりのある飼い主の方がいらっしゃいましたら連絡お願いします#保護犬 pic.twitter.com/vp1mkakIO3

— MARCY (@marcy_com) May 1, 2020

The man also shared a video where Luna was heard making a sound quite different from a dog's barking or howling.

結論から申し上げますと保護したのは「犬」ではなく「キツネ」でした。

ご指摘いただいた皆さま、ありがとうございました。

藁をもすがる思いで「北きつね牧場」様へ相談したところ、引き取ってくれるとのことでしたので、明日連れていく予定です。

この度は保護犬ではないのにお騒がせしました。 pic.twitter.com/CTEDmPdctL

— MARCY (@marcy_com) May 2, 2020

According to Yahoo News, as suspicion grew on Twitter, the man decided to take Luna to a veterinarian who confirmed that the 'puppy' was actually a wild fox cub.

Since it is illegal to keep foxes as pets in Japan, the man decided to give Luna up to Kita Kitsune Bokujo, a fox sanctuary in the nearby town of Kitami. "We have completed handing over the fox to Kita Kitsune Farm," he wrote in an update to thousands of people who had begun following Luna's story on Twitter. "When it was time for me to go home, Luna was cuddled up with other foxes her own age and sleeping," @marcy_com wrote.

Luna, who is about two months old, will stay at the sanctuary until she is old enough to fend for herself.