Monday, April 6, 2009

One Year Later and Still There...

This photo is genuinely a déjà vu, since one year ago I published an almost identical photo of this unfortunate fellow who is still waiting by the highway. Please check it out. I have learned that he was apparently dumped here by someone who just stopped his car and shoved him out. This faithful dog has never given up hope that his owner will return. I sometimes walk Bibi this way, but it makes me so sad to see him there, day and night, in fair and foul weather. I'd love to get my hands on the person who did this. I should add that people who live close by feed him on a regular basis, but he won't come to anyone.

33 comments:

Adam@BalkanFile said...

Uff. Poor chap. That's really sad to see him still there waiting for someone who won't return.

soulbrush said...

oh my god, this is one of the saddest things i have ever seen, it has brought a lump to my throat and a tear to me eye. and yes, i wish i could get my hands on that person too, oh my god.

Debra Kay said...

What a brave soul. I wonder if the person who left him misses him, or even knows what a dear heart he/she abandoned. I can see them running through the world whining that no one loves them, when all the love in the world was right there......

Julie said...

What a gorgeous dog...

The Good Life in Virginia said...

what a loyal friend he/she is to someone who doesn't give a dang...this saddens me so very much. words can not express how this bothers me.
have a good monday.

Lowell said...

I've often wondered why the plight of our four-legged friends carries such weight with us...but it does. This is truly an unhappy situation...but there doesn't seem to be anything anyone can do about it. Glad some folks are seeing that he's fed.

studio lolo said...

I came here via my dear friend Soulbrush. I'm a veterinary nurse and I now do house calls for ailing pets in their last days.
This dog is deserving of the types of loving homes I go to. Animals always forgive their abusers. I've heard of dogs waiting for years in one place only for a person to never return again. I wish this sweet dog would learn to trust again and end up in a loving home.
Thanks goodness for the kind souls who feed him.

Alexa said...

This is heartbreaking. I'm wavering between tears and fury. Hope this sweet dog finally lets someone get close—won't tell you what I wish for the rat who left him there. And bless the people who've been feeding him all year.

Lisa Rivas said...

This is making me cry! What loyalty and such innocence this beautiful creature. God speaks in many ways... thanks for being the voice.

Kim said...

His integrity is proven beyond any doubt while the humans who abandoned him can't touch the level of dignity embodied in this fellow's being. This would be one of those cases I would justify darting him with a sedative and bringing him into a welcoming home, if only there were one and a vet or animal control worker who would dart him). He could pine away just as easily in a safe environment as this dangerous one and his health and nutrition be better tended to. He seems a big guy, like part St. Bernard? Bless the folks who feed him. In Japan they put up a statue to a dog who waited for his master at the train station everyday, even after the master passed away. I learned of it from a children's book, but the story is soon to be released as a movie staring Richard Gere.
Hachiko (pronounced HA-chi-ko) was born in November 1923 in Odate, in the Akita province of Japan. The next year, Ueno brought him to Tokyo. Hachiko followed Professor Ueno everywhere. He accompanied Ueno to the Shibuya train station every morning and then returned and waited for him every afternoon. But, one day in May 1925, Professor Ueno didn’t come home; he’d suffered a fatal stroke at work. Mrs. Ueno gave the dog away to some of the professor’s relatives. But the devoted dog came back and returned to the train station every afternoon for nearly 11 years, at precisely the time that Ueno’s train was due, waiting for the professor. Hachiko did this until his own death in March 1935. He's been adopted as the symbolic national dog of Japan and his statue is at that train station and in Tokyo. I love that you have immortalized this guy in your photos. Somehow it may change his luck.
-Kim

Pat said...

Kim, thank you. That was beautiful, and that dog's story reminds me of a similar one, Grayfriar's Bobby.

Z said...

You broke my heart this Monday morning. I'm going to have to find something silly to post on my blog today.

Marie Reed said...

Kim has said it all for me. I am flabbergasted and heartbroken by his loyalty.

Dan said...

Hi and sorry it has been soooo loooong between visits! I seem to have gotten very busy.

Such a sad, sad story. Poor little dog. I hope a kind person takes it in.

Nathalie H.D. said...

What an amazing (and sad) story of faithfulness.
Dogs are amazing, aren't they?
I can't believe he hasn't found a new human friend that he could take as a master.

MuseSwings said...

Very sad story!

Thérèse said...

One more story for your Magazine Bibi under "faithfulness."

Stefan Jansson said...

I can never understand why someone would leave a dog just like that. Very sad indeed.

marley said...

That is so sad. Its a shame the owner wasn't as loyal to the dog as the dog is to the awful owner. At least he gets fed but it is still a sad tale :(

Nomad said...

Its so sad :( I had a dog that run away one new year night as they was lot of fireworks and she was afraid.

I wonder is she somewhere just standing and is this dog maybe just lost his way?

Did you try getting closer to this dog? Is he or she friendly??

Virginia said...

Reminds me of a book I read to my class. I only read it once because I started crying at one point and had to wait a few days to finish it. It's called " A Dog's Life, Autobiography of a Stray". ( I think). This photo made me think of it immediately. I hope he doesn't get hurt. Wonderful post today Bibi.
V

Debby said...

Oh, this is probably the saddest thing I've read in a long time.

Debby said...

And, you know what? I'll bet you that the person who dumped him off travels that road and has seen him sitting there. What a hardhearted bastard s/he must be.

Jithendra said...

Oh my God, so faithful this dog is! I just love doggies :)

Jane Hards Photography said...

Oh poor thing. I am a sucker for a dog shot. It is eerily like the former. This is the kind of image that really gets me and just don't understand abandoning of animals.

Jilly said...

Oh this is just SO sad, Bibi. My heart cries for this sweet dog. Am so glad he is being fed but goodness I wish he had a real home. I'm astounded at this dog's memory. There is a memorial to a famous dog in Australia - the Gundegai Dog' - he slept on his master's grave for 10 years until he eventually died.

Belgrade Daily Photo said...

Poor, sweet doggie.

Marie-Noyale said...

Such a sad post!!
This nice fellow deserves a great loving family to adopt him this time...

raf said...

This story is a heartbreaker. Dogs are wonderful animals and friends and they give you all they've got. How could someone do this? Hope there is a way to save it.
Bless you, Bibi, for your care and concern for dogs in the Belgrade area.

Through My Kitchen Window said...

Oh if only humans were as loyal as the canine family. The world would be a much better place. I was really saddened to read this post.

belgraded.com said...

Just to let you know that the story about the dog has reached the press, hopefully someone will take him now:

GraceBeading said...

do you know if this dog was every rescued? I think about it often and wonder if that precious loyal dog ever got off that highway and into a home.

Pat said...

Dear Grace,
I had wanted to post another photo of this dog, but by the second year at the same time, he had moved on somehow to a new church being built nearby, near where he used to 'hunt' for mice. I can only imagine one of the workers somehow managed to befriend him and he stayed. Now, as I write this, he has also disappeared from the church, but so have the workers. I can only hope one of them took him. So sad, but maybe a happy ending.

SPRING FASHION

 This is a post that would be better in color, but maybe not. These colors were soooo pale.