WHERE’S MY HUMAN?
Heartbreaking moment loyal dog waits for FOUR DAYS for return of owner who’d fallen through ice and drowned
The dog ignored the will of the owner's family and continued to return to the spot where he disappeared
THIS is the heartbreaking moment a loyal dog waits for her owner to return for four days after he drowned.
Belka kept returning to the spot where her owner, 59, fell through the ice on the 23ft-deep Ufa River in Russia.
5
5
5
The brave pooch waited for the man to return as officials dealt with the tragic death that she knew nothing about.
The night didn't scare her away either - with snaps showing Belka glowing in the dark as she continues her mission.
Belka's owner died after taking a shortcut across ice that wasn't thick enough to hold him.
He was tragically swept downstream under the ice in the fast-flowing river.
read more in dogs
It took four days to find his body.
Despite the fact that Belka was waiting in the wrong spot, she stood guard bravely anyways - refusing to give up hope.
The dead man’s family took Belka home several time - but she kept returning to the spot where she saw her owner plunge into the water.
After the accident, a rescuer went out to try and save the pet owner, and nearly lost his own life.
Most read in The Sun
The man was found suffering with severe frostbite.
A bike belonging to the owner was found before the four-day search for his body was concluded.
Kirk Herbstreit melts fans' hearts with pics of new dog a week after heartbreaking death of 'best friend' Ben
Kirill Pervov, head of the rescue service in Bashkiria, said: “During the search, the rescue team used an air cushion boat with a hooking device to survey the river bottom."
“Search work was complicated by difficult conditions - a strong current and unstable ice crust."
He urged locals to “follow the rules of safe behaviour and do not put your life in danger".
“Do not go out on thin ice," he added.
Belka shares the name of one of the famous Soviet space dogs sent into orbit aboard Sputnik 5 spacecraft in 1960.
Russians are comparing the loyal pet to the famous Japanese Akita dog Hachikō, a pet who waited endlessly for his master, Hidesaburō Ueno.
Hidesaburō was a professor at the University of Tokyo who had died.
5
5
Topics