Today a colleague forwarded a blog post about a dog in Athens who purportedly hasn’t missed a riot since 2008.

“That’s gotta be Photoshopped,” I said. “Naw, look at the shadows,” he replied. But I wasn’t convinced. With a little time and a bit of skill, anyone can fake a shadow.

The story smelled of an urban legend in the making, so I decided to do some research. I didn’t have to go far to find validation: The Guardian itself had a slide show titled “Kanellos, the Greek protest dog.”

I was rapt.

I feel a tinge of guilt in admitting that I’ve mostly glossed over the news about the riots in Greece. But these images of the dog on the front lines made the conflicts more real—and oddly, more human—to me.

Suddenly I find myself wishing that the unrest in Greece had gotten more attention. And I find myself hoping that someone is looking out for Kanellos.