By Tim Binnall
In an odd update to an already strange story, a city in Texas is asking the public for their help in solving the mystery of a viral photo purportedly showing a bipedal canine creature lurking around the perimeter of a zoo in the community. The very weird image made headlines last week when it was posted to Reddit by an unnamed individual who claimed that it came from a camera stationed at the Amarillo Zoo. At the time, the tale surrounding the photo was considered fairly suspect, given its anonymous source, however a peculiar press release issued by the city of Amarillo on Wednesday morning seemingly confirms the picture's alleged origin story and calls on residents to help crack the curious case.
According to the announcement, the photo was indeed captured "in the dark and early morning hours of May 21" by "security cameras inside a perimeter fence at the Amarillo Zoo." The press release went on to put forward a few theories for what the anomaly could have been, including a coyote walking on its hind legs, "a person with a strange hat," and the legendary chupacabra, before conceding that the image constitutes a genuine mystery. "For now, the strange visitor is a UAO - Unidentified Amarillo Object," the city declared, musing that "perhaps Amarillo has a better explanation."
To that end, "in the spirit of fun if not curiosity," they encouraged residents to submit their guesses "on the identity of the UAO" to the community's communication office. While the press release is decidedly tongue in cheek, the Amarillo director of parks and recreation did provide a few more details surrounding the 'dog man' at the center of the puzzling mystery. "It is important to note that this entity was outside the Amarillo Zoo," Michael Kashuba confirmed, while stressing that "there were no signs of attempted entry into the zoo. No animals or individuals were harmed. There were no signs of criminal activity or vandalism." Care to join in on the fun and offer your theory for what the Amarillo 'dog man' was? Weigh in at the C2C Facebook page.