A set of four images featuring a dog posing in the premises of a Hyundai showroom in Brazil is doing the rounds on social media with false claims that the animal was adopted recently by one of the Hyundai showrooms in Kolkata.
The Facebook posts also feature an image of an ID card with the dog's photograph with claims that the car company decided to make him his unique identity card.
The caption of the viral post reads: ''This munchkin used to wait outside a Hyundai showroom in Calcutta until they let him inside, so Hyundai decided to make him his own ID Card, now he's a car salesman, and lives there permanently.''
The post can be seen here and has been archived here.
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Actress Swastika Mukherjee had earlier tweeted the same set of images with a similar narrative. Mukherjee's tweet translates to "A dog would wait in front of Hyundai Showroom till the time they would let him enter. Hyundai has made an I Card for him. He is now a Hyundai employee. He can stay in the showroom and he is given food as well."
একটি কুকুর Hyundai Showroom বাইরে অপেক্ষা করতো যতক্ষন না তারা তাকে সেখানে ঢুকতে দেয়, Hyundai থেকে বাচ্চাটিকে একটি আই কার্ড তৈরি করে দিয়েছে বাচ্চাটা এখন Hyundai কর্মী, সে ওই Showroom e থাকতে পারে ও তাকে খেতে দেওয়া হয়।
— Swastika Mukherjee (@swastika24) August 4, 2020
The most humane thing to happen in a long time. Take ♥️♥️ pic.twitter.com/y9xx5PMNBB
While Mukherjee did not specify where the heartwarming incident occurred, a few netizens retweeted the same images as Kolkata.
Translation for those who don't read Bangla, because everyone must read this:
— Sayantan Ghosh (@sayantansunnyg) August 4, 2020
This munchkin used to wait outside a Hyundai showroom in Calcutta until they let him inside, so Hyundai decided to make him his own ID Card, now he's a car salesman, and lives there permanently. https://t.co/DwPKvzy9yY
In a tweet, the user later clarified that the incident is from Brazil.
Not Calcutta perhaps, as pointed out. Saw the original tweet in Bangla and assumed it is, my mistake totally. But the happiest story nevertheless. https://t.co/eNIouBNLQg
— Sayantan Ghosh (@sayantansunnyg) August 4, 2020
Fact Check
BOOM did a reverse image search of one of the photographs and found several news reports on the dog adoption incident that took place in Brazil earlier this week.
According to an NDTV report , employees of a Hyundai car showroom in Brazil decided to take care of a dog that was spotted often outside the showroom and adopted him into their company. They even made him an honorary employee by assigning an identity card and named him Tucson Prime. An Indian Express report mentions that the dog has been promoted to 'sales consultant' recently by the car showroom in Serra in the state of Espírito Santo in Brazil.
Indian Express report on the street dog adopted by Hyundai car showroom in Brazil
The news was viral on social media after the official Instagram account of Hyundai Brazil posted images of the adopted dog, Tucson Prime on the occasion of Dia do Vira-Lata, a day observed to create awareness about the importance of rescuing and adopting stray animals.
We searched for Tucson Prime on Instagram and found his profile which shows the same images that are doing the rounds on social media and mentions about the 'dog salesman' doing campaigns for the Hyundai car showroom in Brazil.
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