The "dog buries puppy" video that went viral last week has a much darker explanation. The dog was likely storing future meat. Yes, apparently even dogs are cannibals. (You can watch the video below, regardless...but if it's for the second time, you might feel differently about the whole thing.)

The dog buries puppy video depicted a dog, ostensibly somewhere in the Middle East, coming across a dead puppy and covering it beneath dirt with its snout. The dog completely buries the puppy in dirt, then walks away.

The viral YouTube video of the dog "burying" and "mourning" the puppy was written about in scores of publications. It was described as "compassionate", "heart-wrenching", "heartwarming", "gut-wrenching", and "gutsy". Apparently, said dog was just trying to fill up its guts.

The "compassion" claim has been debunked: an animal expert explains that the dog is instinctively burying meat to eat later.

"I think that this is a classic case of really interesting behavior - sort of unusual that somebody actually caught it on video - and we make a big deal out of it, and it's really cute and it sort of reminds us of some of the things we do," Peter Borchelt, an animal-behavior consultant, said.

"I suspect it was more likely just caching dead meat, rather than a soulful response to the demise of a puppy that it wanted to bury."

His interpretation is far different than the sentimental label the burial was slapped with: the dog is saving a little snack for future consumption.

The fact that the two don't appear to be related doesn't make it more tender, but with the new explanation, it's at least less creepy than a parent devouring it's young.

It's quite literally a dog-eat-dog world out there.

The Huffington Post called the video was an "astounding act of mourning," and said "If you didn't believe animals have the capability to grieve like people do, you might now change your mind."

Nope. Just human interpretation. Just, Borchelt points out, as if the dog sat there with its paws folded, it would be "ridiculous" to think it was praying.

"We as humans look at that and say, 'Oh my God, this dog is burying this animal like we bury people.' Except they're two entirely different behavior systems."

The dog may or may not go back to snack on the puppy it buried later, he said-but it followed its instinct.

"I wouldn't want to go so far as to say that the dog is saving the puppy to eat for later, because that might not be the issue - it might not have the need. But it's still a piece of this instinctive thing," Borchelt says. "Here's meat, here's a bone - I'll bury it."

Within the last hour, multiple publications have continued to post the sentimental mourning explanation...but an article debunking the claim was published this morning.

Watch the viral "dog burying puppy" video below.