Fact Check: Viral message on Ashoka Hotel shows unrelated old pictures
Users are sharing multiple pictures of the restaurant, a pack of dogs in a shed and a picture of a dog being skinned from the neck along with the caption, ""Dog meat was raided by the hotel in Alappuzha. These hoteliers were cooking dog meat and selling it as mutton."
Pictures of Ashoka Hotel in Alappuzha, Kerala, are viral on social media with allegations that it is serving dog meat to customers in the pretense of mutton.
Users are sharing multiple pictures of the restaurant, a pack of dogs in a shed and a picture of a dog being skinned from the neck along with the caption, ""Dog meat was raided by the hotel in Alappuzha. These hoteliers were cooking dog meat and selling it as mutton."
Click here and here to view a few posts. Viewers discretion is advised.
Image of hotel:
The fact check team performed a reverse image search and found that the Ashoka Hotel is actually in Howrah, Kolkata, not at Alapuzzha in Kerala. When the FC team compared the viral photo to the pictures posted on the hotel's website, it was clear that the hotel was located in Howrah.
We also found several news reports stating that the Ashoka Hotel in Howrah was raided in 2018 for selling rotten meat. According to a report by The Times of India, several hotels were being supplied rotten meat procured from nearby dumping grounds. However, no reports have identified the type of meat or have even mentioned dog meat.
2. Picture of dogs
The fact check team performed a reverse image search and found the same image on Shutterstock. Its description states that Thai officials had rescued almost 1,000 dogs from being smuggled to Vietnam on August 19, 2011. Clearly, the picture is old and not related to Kerala.
3. Dog skinned
The fact check team performed a reverse image search and found a report by Persian website, Ahrargil, posted in June 2015. The report carries the same picture and mentions that an incident of a sausage factory being busted took place in Mashhad, Iran in 2013, and the perpetrators were caught.
These evidences make it clear that the three photos are unrelated and are falsely linked to usage of dog meat in the Ashoka Hotel in Alappuzha, Kerala. The claim is false.