Awwws to ewwws

But this past Friday evening, the mixed-breed canine was suddenly turned into public (transportation) enemy No. 1 after he was blamed for defecating inside one of the city's trams. On social media, a photo of a turd on a seat went viral, with Boji accused of the crime, reports local daily Hürriyet.

But just hours later, another plot twist was in store: The spokesperson of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality shared a security camera video from the tram in question, showing a bald man in a sweatshirt taking the piece of poop out of his pocket (yes, gross…) and planting it on the seat. Yeşilırmak also tweeted an alibi to the pooch's 100K+ followers: Boji had been hanging out at the shelter that day.

Here's a good Boji

Why would someone choose to slander man's best friend? The answer might just be politics.

Bilge Ebiri, a journalist and filmmaker, tweeted that Boji has become an unofficial mascot for Istanbul and its mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a center-left politician, who is seen by many as the strongest rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his conservative Justice and Development Party.

Was poopgate the ultimate political stinkbomb to make both Boji and Istanbul look bad?

While Boji's Instagram says that he is still waiting for an apology, he seems to have taken the incident in stride, with little damage to his reputation. Anyway, he has a train to catch.