Viral Facebook post turns out to be true

You know those annoying chain status updates on Facebook that your friends like to share to raise "awareness?" It appears that one of them actually worked and helped a homeless man get his dog back.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - On any given day, Facebook users are tortured with guilt over emotional pictures that claim, "if we get one million likes" and "like if you agree." Most are fakes, urban legends, children and grown men begging for attention, and so on. However, every now and then, one of those viral images turns out to have a connection to reality.

In this case, Dave Thomas, a homeless man living in the San Bernardino area was parted from his dog Buzz Lightyear, after police arrested him for failing to show up to court for two traffic violations. Buzz was impounded and Thomas was told it would cost him $400 to retrieve his companion.

Thomas had $6 in his pocket when he went to retrieve Buzz. He broke down in tears in front of Buzz's cage, and Maria Sanchez, a regular visitor to the shelter, snapped his photo. She posted the picture online and it immediately went viral, spreading across Facebook.

By Tuesday morning Thomas had received $2,000, his dog, and even a marriage proposal.

It's a heartwarming story in an age where your emotions are often played online just for attention. In this case though, the case was real and the tugs produced an outpouring of love that saved a man's best friend, and hopefully, in a way, the man himself.

Of course, friends be warned, that's still no license to start hitting "share" on every image.

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