Movies often portray dogs as faithful companions, as "mankind's best friend". One iconic scene goes like this: a puppy would make eye contact with their future owner, choosing each other as if it was all meant to be. In trending reaction videos, viewers stare at dying humans in silence, while they drown in tears seeing the collapse of dogs.

As a teen girl wound up in the tiktok world, I believed in these stories. All my posts were #dogoftheday. My followings and followers were random strangers sharing a passion for dogs. This is why I was so shocked when I read that Beagles were "underfed, ill, injured and, in some cases, dead" under the pretty name of "healthy breeding". A breeding facility made for lab testing? It was a flash that lit up reality.

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As social media algorithms tend to channel audiences into "filter bubbles", people see claims that they agree with and live in a social media echo chamber without being exposed to new ideas. Therefore, inaccurate media presentations – that is, romanticizing and euphemizing images of our relationship with dogs – conceals a harsher reality. Millions of dogs are put down each year due to lack of space in shelters, yet the overemphasis on mankind's intimate relationship with dogs shifts attention away from this disturbing fact. Their strong embodiment of unconditional love is, ironically, causing their problems to be overlooked.