A Hong Kong man living in Britain has touched thousands online after discovering images of his late grandfather and pet dog captured on Google Maps Street View years after both had passed away.
The man, identified only as William, shared the discovery on social media after using Google Maps’ historical Street View feature to revisit old images of Lai Chi Kok Road in Prince Edward. To his surprise, he found footage showing his grandfather walking the family’s Pomeranian along the street.
“I found my grandpa and my dog walking on the street through Google Maps’ ‘go back in time’ feature,” he wrote.
William said both his grandfather and the dog died in 2019, making the unexpected rediscovery especially emotional. He added that the dog had accompanied him for 16 years, from primary school through university.
“Finding that photo meant so much to me,” he wrote in a bilingual post, thanking Google for preserving what he described as precious memories.
The post quickly gained traction online, attracting more than 150,000 views and prompting an outpouring of emotional reactions from netizens. Some said the story brought them to tears, while others remarked that despite the blurred Street View imagery, both the grandfather and the dog appeared visibly happy together.
The incident also prompted many users to share similar experiences of unexpectedly spotting deceased relatives or pets in old Google Maps imagery. Some recalled discovering late grandparents outside their former homes, while others reflected on the close bond between elderly family members and their pets.
Many commenters offered words of comfort to William, saying his grandfather and dog were “still walking together in heaven”, while others described the Street View image as allowing them to “live seven more years” online.
