Touching tributes

The degree of loyalty which dogs can display towards their owners can be truly remarkable. In Japan, near Shibuya train station, there’s a sculpture to a special dog, paid for by public donations. It is a tribute to the devotion of Hachiko, who was a Japanese Akita.

Hachiko used to walk to the station with his owner each morning, and would then return to accompany him home in the evening. Even though the professor died suddenly at Tokyo university during 1925, Hachiko continued this journey back and forth to the station every day for a further 10 years, in the hope that they would be reunited.

In its own way, this simple gravestone in an Edinburgh churchyard is just as poignant, even though the events surrounding it are not well-known, especially when compared with the case of Greyfriars Bobby – this Scottish city’s most famous canine resident.

© kyz

Commemorative stone

The engraved inscription on the stone tells of the death of an elderly shepherd in 1795, but that is only part of the story. John Foord became caught up in a fierce snowstorm on Corstorphine hill in February that year, while tending his sheep. When he was found after the blizzard, he was lying dead near a rock, with the body of his sheepdog at his side.

His friends then decided to bring the rock down the hill, and cut it to create this tombstone. They also placed the smaller stone alongside it, to commemorate the death of John Foord’s faithful canine companion, who stayed with him right to the end.

Sam the spaniel is back home again!

After vanishing from his home on a farm in the English county of Devon over two and a half years ago, Sam the crossbred spaniel has finally been reunited with his owners, Christine and Ray Robinson. They had been devastated when their beloved pet suddenly disappeared.

Sam the cross-bred spaniel.

Following many months of searching, posting hundreds of “missing” posters through the area and even visiting a psychic, Christine almost gave up hope of ever seeing Sam again, but her husband Ray was confident that they would be reunited as Sam was microchipped. Using a process similar to giving an injection, the tiny microchip – about the size of a grain of rice – is inserted under the skin in the neck. It contains a unique code, which can be read by a special reader.

Sam’s details had been logged with the UK’s largest pet reunification service, known as PetLog, which is run by the Kennel Club. Their database presently contains the details of over 4.2 million pets and their owners, with this figure growing by 40,000 each month. Welfare organisations, dog wardens, veterinary practices and similar groups can trace owners of stray dogs through this scheme, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Sam was finally discovered wandering along the side of a road several miles from where he had last been seen. He was taken to the local pub, in the hope that the landlord might recognise him. When he didn’t, the local dog warden was called and Sam was scanned to see if he had been microchipped.

Christine was amazed and delighted to be reunited with Sam. “It is really fantastic to have him back, and to think that if we hadn’t had him microchipped and his details stored with Petlog, we would never have seen him again. Everyone should have their dog microchipped – it’s such a wonderful service.

“Sam was jumping all over us when we came to pick him up and, as we were approaching the farm, he went wild, tail wagging and running around. He knew exactly where he was! The people who had taken him in had obviously cared for him and treated him well as a family pet. When he left us, he was a healthy gundog, but he has come back slightly overweight. He still enjoys going out with us, although he seems to have forgotten his gundog training.”

*For more information about Petlog, visit http://www.petlog.org.uk