Might well be, we can follow the creation of a new urban legend:
The original (German) Bild aricle (Bild is THE German tabloid)
"Dogs in the pan"
A simple search by google leads to this book
"Der kalte Hund"
ISBN 3-8330-0650-1, IBIS-Edition, Herausgeber Uwe Dressler und Alexander Neumeister, 120 Seiten, Paperback, 12 Euro.
The (translated) description: "lyrics, caricatures and stories about the dog" .
And when the (German) 'journalist' (since I can read, I've doubts that there is a single one at Bild!) had looked at the other google-results, he would have seen that this book is highly praised by dog-lover, animal-rights activists ... .
And that's some fun as well: the official Dresden cultural magazine (published by the city of Dresden) announced a "serious-humouresque evening" with the authors some days ago.
But since this is now going around the globe in English ..... see above :wink: