A JOKESTER’S Facebook prank about finding a missing ‘dog’ has gone viral with thousands of shares.

Janey Christina Farrell, originally from Stroud who now lives in South Cerney, posted on Facebook about finding a “small dog” with “no collar” – alongside a picture of what is clearly a badger in the hallway of a house – on Monday.

“He’s got stripey fur and is obviously homesick as he is very cross,” she wrote, adding that she had found him in Cirencester and wanted to “avoid him going to the dogs home”.

Despite many commenters not getting the joke, with one posting: “That's a badger not a dog, you dumbass”, it has gone on to be liked by more than 24,000 people and shared over 11,400 times.

On Tuesday, however, Janey posted again to confirm it was just “Monday banter”.

“Just to clear things up…my post regarding the ‘dog I found’ was a prank, a bit of Monday banter…I know it’s a badger,” wrote the sales promotion manager.