“Waited for its owner for 4 days“: Loyal dog’s story touched the internet
On the Ufa River in the Karaidel District, a dog stayed in one spot for four days, waiting where its owner had tragically fallen through the ice.
"Four days ago, in the village of Karaidel, Bashkortostan, a 59-year-old man attempted to take a shortcut by crossing the river on thin ice with his bicycle. The fragile ice broke, and the man fell into the water just 100 meters from the shore. Bystanders tried to help, but one of the rescuers also fell through the ice. Fortunately, he was pulled out and rushed to the hospital," the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations reported.
Tragically, the dog’s owner drowned.
According to the Daily Mail, the man’s relatives tried several times to take the dog, named Belka, home. However, the loyal pet repeatedly returned to the spot where it last saw its owner. A video of Belka went viral, amassing over a million views online.
@dailymail A loyal dog has been staying at the spot where her 59-year-old owner fell through the ice of a frozen river while biking. Pictures show Belka stoically waiting for her owner, who drowned after falling through the ice while he tried taking a shortcut. After four days searching on the Ufa River in Russia, the body of her tragic drowned owner was found on Wednesday downstream of the place he was lost. The dead man's family took Belka home several times, but she repeatedly returned to the spot she saw her owner fall through the ice - three quarters of an inch thick. #dogs #pets #russia #biking #ice #news ♬ vertigo - insensible & énouement
The video has received dozens of comments, with many users describing the dog as a true friend.
Local media later reported that relatives managed to take Belka home only after she witnessed the recovery of her owner’s body from the riverbed.
Earlier, a British hiker who got lost at an altitude of about 4,500 meters in the mountains of Peru shared how a stray dog "appeared from the fog" and helped him save himself.