Ever since Liam Rice posted a set of photos of himself with his pet dog, Luna, showing near-identical expressions, the 24-year-old’s social media pages have been inundated with positive interest.

The Kirk Michael resident received thousands of likes and ’retweets’ on his Twitter post this month, which read: ’I think my dog might actually be a human trapped in a dog’s body.’

Celebrities such as former Star Trek actor George Takei have taken part in the craze by sharing the post and many online users being inspired to post their own selfies with their pet dogs and cats after the pair went viral.

Liam said: ’I take selfies with Luna all the time and I made a little photoset of Luna coping my expressions in each frame. It’s all down to luck really!

’Someone retweeted it who had four million followers, so it got a lot of exposure overnight.

’It was all very odd and I didn’t think I deserved the attention I got really. After all it’s just me and my dog.

’I had to turn my notifications off social media, as my phone couldn’t handle getting so many.

’It’s been over a week now and it’s still going with more than half-a-million likes and 36 million views. It’s crazy!’

Luna has been at Liam’s side since she was three-months-old.

The Siberian husky will be turning two this year.

’Luna knows she’s a pretty girl and she’s always checking herself out in the mirror,’ Liam continued.

’She really doesn’t need encouragement at all from me.’

The dog-lover, who studied art at Isle of Man College, also happens to be a full-time animal care officer at the ManxSPCA.

He said: ’I’m working closely in the kennels with the dogs and I love it!

’I get to rescue and care for animals and then rehome them.

’It’s a very rewarding and lovely job and I wouldn’t change it for the world.’

General manager of the charity, Juana Warburton, said: ’We’ve loved seeing our Liam going viral on Twitter! It’s helped put the Isle of Man on the map, as well as the ManxSPCA.

She added: ’We’ve experienced the bad side of social media in the past with people telling lies about our organisation, so we’re delighted to see Liam and Luna getting positive reactions from others.’

Dog lover Liam and his pet have stolen the hearts of over half-a-million social media followers after posting selfies. Jess Ward reports.