Fenton! Man Chasing Dog Chasing Deer Unleashes Viral Video, Meme

Pets are the overflowing well of viral videos. You loved that cute kitty who plays the keyboard.

But the unleashed Labrador retriever and his cursing owner?

A YouTube video taken in a Surrey, U.K., park by Ali Goodyear and his 13-year-old son shows a dog named Fenton chasing a herd of deer, his owner alternately crying “Fenton!” and “Oh, Jesus Christ!” It has been viewed almost 700,000 times since it was posted Nov. 22.

It has also 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.

The dog’s owner has not been identified. Fenton did not respond to requests for comment, either.

But at least one thing has become clearer since the video went viral: The dog’s name, as heard in the park by Goodyear and his father, is Fenton, not Benton, as early reports on the video had it.

The owner may be lying low for reasons beyond shyness about their newfound celebrity. As Fenton’s owner’s screams seem to reflect, one is supposed to keep one’s dog under strict control in Richmond Park.

The page “Dogs in the Royal Parks” on the Royal Parks website (Richmond Park is one of the Royal Parks) 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
  • Keep your dog in sight
  • Keep the lead handy, you may need it.