A bizarre story out of Egypt has shed light on not only the untrustworthiness of many viral videos, but the plight of stray dogs in that nation’s capital.
Last month, American paraglider Alex Lang was utilizing a motor and wing attached to a backpack to soar above the Giza complex near Cairo. At the top of the 448-foot tall Pyramid of Khafre, Lang spotted a dog near the apex of the structure and managed to film the adorable and bizarre spectacle.
After landing, Lang showed the footage to other paramotorists, including a man named Marshall Mosher. According to the New York Times, Mosher then took the footage, edited it so it appeared Mosher was in the air (and not Lang), and posted it on Instagram without Lang’s permission. Not surprisingly, the clip went viral (28 million views and counting) and Mosher soon received interview requests and financial opportunities.
“It’s my video edit, my post, and I’m not required by any legal or moral rules to tag him,” Mosher told the Times.
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Mosher did end up sharing some of the proceeds of the video with Lang, who seemed mostly unbothered by the wannabe influencer’s machinations.
About that dog
The dog captured atop Khafre — Apollo — was actually a stray, though he was well known around the Giza complex. Apollo and his brood, along with many other stray dogs, often hang around the pyramids. A group known as the American Cairo Animal Rescue Foundation has long cared for Apollo and his pack, feeding, vaccinating, and spaying and neutering most of them (Apollo has not been neutered, according to the Times). Like his canine companions, Apollo is still wild and often bolts to the top of Khafre when someone from the rescue foundation tries to capture him.
Egypt has long been filled with unhoused pups, with the population now estimated at 15 million. While dogs and humans lived harmoniously for centuries, Napoleon helped change that. Upon entering Egypt in the late 18th century, would-be French conquerors viewed the dogs as a nuisance at best, a danger at worst, and began shooting and poisoning them. The practice of poisoning stray dogs continued until the modern era, though it’s now technically illegal.
Organizations like the American Cairo Animal Rescue Foundation have stepped in to help these animals, housing hundreds of them and finding permanent homes for them all around the world.
“The society here considers street dogs to be varmints,” the foundation’s Vicki Michelle Brown told the Times. “Fortunately, strays are increasingly gaining acceptance and grass-roots support.”
