A stranger found a camera filled with ‘disturbing’ photos of someone’s dog — and when the owner learned who took them, they couldn’t stop laughing

A stranger stumbled upon an old camera during a hike and uncovered "disturbing" photos of a pet dog. It felt wrong not to at least try finding the rightful owner of the pup. So, the kind stranger shared the photos with their friends to help spread the word until someone made out a contact number on the dog’s tag from the pictures. The stranger did not hesitate to get in touch with the dog owner and ask for clarification when the discussion unveiled who the real photographer was. The stranger and the owner could not help but laugh at the questionable photos.  

The dog owner took to Reddit to narrate the unexpected encounter in a post shared under u/yellingaboutnothing on November 10, 2024. A stranger exploring Glacier National Park had discovered the camera submerged in a river off-trail. Unsure how it got there, they browsed the images and found "disturbing" photos of a man holding a pet dog. After figuring out the phone number from the dog tag, the stranger messaged the owner, “Does this dog look familiar to you?” Following the owner’s response, the stranger explained that the dog was the “only identifier” and they were simply trying to find its owner.  

Alarmed by the sudden text, the owner recognized their dog in the pictures clicked about a decade ago, per the post. “Someone found a camera with 10-year-old photos of my dog and contacted me,” the post with 15,000 votes was titled. The serious investigation quickly transformed into a hilarious chat about the owner’s friend, who they claimed was an “odd fellow.” The pictures, some of which were included in the viral post, showed a man dressed in a black cloak holding the dog and pointing a knife at it. In the third picture, he posed near the edge of a cliff, as if the dog had fallen off.  

The owner sent over pictures of their dog, who was still alive and healthy, to reassure the kind stranger. “They were thrilled to see he was still alive and healthy. A little too thrilled,” the user added. The owner finally revealed the mastermind behind the photography to make the stranger comfortable enough to send over the rest of them. “I provided some examples of my friend’s strange approach to art, and they gave in and sent the photos.” A friend, known for his questionable style, was pet-sitting the owner’s dog when they decided to go for a hike in the national park. “He came home so late, I was incredibly frustrated and worried,” the dog owner recalled. 

The friend had planned to make a thriller Christmas card series, which the pet dog inadvertently became a part of. When the owner caught up with their doings, they were annoyed and did not like the “stupid game.” A decade later, however, the strange act made for a lasting memory. They even took the time to share a few more pictures of their friend baptizing the dog in a lake with the kind stranger to share a good laugh. The owner marveled at how the photos had found their way back to them after all these years.