Faux Fur: Waco Cat Lady Story Is A Hoax
Emily Trube | @KRLDEmily
WACO (KRLD) -- Have you heard the story about the 85-year-old woman in Waco who was arrested for stealing her neighbor's cats and making fur coats out of them?
We saw the story going viral today and decided to check it out. And, it turns out that the crazy "too horrible to be true" story about the Cruella de Vil of Waco is, in fact, a hoax.
"Had it been true, it would of been terrible," says Waco Police Department's Public Information Officer, Sgt. Patrick Swanton. "However, it is not true. We have not arrested a woman here in Waco for making a coat out of cats."
The story has an urban legend feel to it and social media expert, Professor Robert Thompson with Syracuse University, says that there's a reason for that.
"That is not the first time I have heard (this story)," says Thompson. "It's almost always an old woman who has a lot of cats or steals cats and ends up making coats out of them."
The story originated on World News Daily Report and references a "local PETA spokeswoman Jane Churchill," who is quoted. KRLD reached out to PETA to see if Churchill is in fact a spokesperson for the organization, and got back a resounding "negatory."
"Jane Churchill is not affiliated with PETA in any way," writes Media Liason for PETA, Jessica Johnson.
The story looks legitimate, primarily because of the image used at the top of the page of an elderly woman at court, wearing a prison uniform.
Using a Google image search, we traced the same image back to a news story out of Atlanta from February of 2013. The picture is, in reality, of 79-year-old Norma Cheren, who was arrested on drug charges.
So, why would someone generate a fake news story? Clinical Assistant Professor Janet Johnson with the Emerging Media and Communications Program at UT Dallas says that there's a name for this - Click Bait.
"It's all about going viral," says Johnson. "And, with the Internet the way it is now, repetition means that 'it must be true'."
How do you tell the difference between a fake news story and a real one? Sgt. Swanton says the first thing you should do is consider the source.
"There was no name, there were really no details in there," says Sgt. Swanson. "And news sources are pretty good at finding out information and names and birth dates and where suspects live. You notice all of that was absent in this case. So, I think it's one of those tell-tale signs to not trust everything you read on the Internet."
As a way to discredit the story, the Waco PD has posted its own cat picture on its Facebook Page - a meme of Grumpy Cat saying "No. Just No."
Hey everybody...Just because somethings on the internet does NOT mean it's the truth!! NO!!! We have not arrested an old lady for killing her neighbors cats and making fur coats from them...really people???
Posted by Waco Police Department on Monday, January 5, 2015
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