A dog has gone viral on TikTok for burying a cat who was killed by a car.
TikTok user @innerthoughts.99 posted the footage, with the caption: “I just witnessed this today as i was passing the road, i saw a this dog and the cat shes carrying standing next to each other as i was watching them they were crossing the road the cat sadly got ran over and the dog was whining, i look at the dog waiting patiently to get to the cat a grabs her and runs across and from that moment youll see the rest…. it’s weird how this world works…”
So far, the post has amassed over 3.3 million likes and 50,000 comments.
Burying the Cat
In the video, the dog’s digging a hole while holding the cat’s body in their mouth. They then bury the feline with their muzzle. “The way he packed the dirt back down with his nose instead of kicking the dirt back in the spot” commented one user.
It’s not the first time a dog has gone viral online for burying another animal. Back in 2013, a stray dog was captured burying the body of a dead puppy. But, while the footage in turn captured hearts, one expert took a different view.
At the time, animal behavior consultant Peter Borchelt said it was more likely that the dog was burying “dead meat”.
The Dog’s Motives
“I think that this is a classic case of really interesting behavior,” said Borchelt. “Sort of unusual that somebody actually caught it on video — and we make a big deal out of it, and it’s really cute and it sort of reminds us of some of the things we do.
“I suspect it was more likely just caching dead meat, rather than a soulful response to the demise of a puppy that it wanted to bury.”
He explained, too, that the dog may not actually have returned to eat the puppy. Rather, it could have been part of a dog’s instinct to bury things – just as they do bones.
