It has been reported that a One Direction fan killed her dog to make good on threats of harming the animal if the band didn’t answer her tweets. Is this true or false?
It appears to be a hoax.
Twitter user @illumivato tweeted the band, “Follow me or I’ll break my dog’s neck.” That post included an image of the Chihuahua being held down by its neck.
A few days later, the fan tweeted to One Direction band member Liam Payne, “I love you. Follow me. My dog has just died.” That post accompanied a photo of the fan crying while holding a dog.
Image
The second image tweeted by the fan can be found from June 2013 tweeted out by a different Twitter user, captioned “My dog died.” That post can be seen here. The original Tweet mentioned nothing about One Direction, only that her dog had died. This fact implies the series of tweets by the One Direction fan is likely a hoax.
Bragging rights: We were the first to report this, whereas other media outlets reported long after we published this fact.
Reaction
Indeed, some readers are calling it a hoax designed at garnering attention. The story has been reported widely, although the fan’s identity and location have not been revealed. A petition on Change.org was created to have her Twitter account suspended. As of this writing, the fan’s account is listed as “Suspended” on the social media site.
The band has not commented on the matter.
It has been reported that the user admitted that she was merely “trolling.”
Sources
- ‘Follow me on Twitter or I’ll break my dog’s neck’: Obsessed One Direction fan ‘kills pet Chihuahua’ after tweet goes unanswered by the band (Daily Mail: September 13, 2013)
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Article Updated September 14, 2013
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