Fenton! Viral Video’s Shouting Dog Owner Identified
In the video he wants his dog to stop. Now he wants his life back.
A YouTube video taken in a Surrey, U.K., park shows a dog named Fenton chasing a herd of deer, his owner alternately crying "Fenton!" and "Oh, Jesus Christ!" It has been viewed more than three million times since it was posted Nov. 22.
The star of this hit video is an editorial consultant named Max Findlay, the Daily Mail reported. According to the article, Findlay is a father of two children and a former barrister who has written editorials for The Observer and the Financial Times.
"I don't really want to add anything to the zillions of words already out there. I'd rather just leave the story where it is and move on," said Findlay, in an unprecedented statement for an editor.
Findlay has not been seen in the park since the incident. He may be wary of facing sanctions from the Royal Parks or from police. Royal Parks' website states: "It is your responsibility to keep your dog under control and to clean up after it: You are breaking the law if you do not do so."
The video has become a meme, with mash-ups superimposing the owner's cries on movies and wildlife footage.
Movie mash-ups include "Ghostbusters" Fenton (he's chasing Rick Moranis), "American Werewolf in London" Fenton, "Jurassic Fenton" and "Chariots of Fenton."
Wildlife mashups imagine Fenton chasing geese and bison.
Friends of Findlay said he was considering renaming his dog, the report said.