A week ago, I read an article about the most loyal dog in the world and decided to share his story with you.
In Japan, Hachiko is a legend, but I learned the story when a rare picture of the beautiful Akita lying outside Shibuya Station in Tokyo surfaced and began spreading in the media.
The article in The Japan News describes how Hachiko followed
his guardian, Hidesaburo Ueno, to the train station every day and would patiently await his return every night so they could make their way home together.
Sadly, in 1925, Hidesaburo Ueno suddenly passed away at his office, never returning home. Hachiko patiently waited at the train station day after day, but his guardian would never come back. I can only imagine how painful his loss and grief were.
At first, people were not friendly to what seemed to be a homeless dog at the station, but as people shared Hachiko’s story, their attitude started to change. They brought Hachiko treats, food and water, and eventually, his story grew into into a legend of loyalty and love.
He waited at the train station until the day he passed away to be reunited with Hidesaburo Ueno in 1934, nine years after his death! Hachiko was buried next to Hidesaburo, and several statues have been put up in their honour, including one at the Shibuya Station.
The statue captures Hachiko’s happiness welcoming his human friend upon his return from work. We all love to be welcomed by our dogs and know how it feels.
I love this story. At first, it may seem to be unique, but if you think about it, this story expresses the essence of dogs in general. It is as if dogs have been put on this planet to teach us about our potential and how we humans should treat each other.
Hachiko’s story is also a story of homelessness and is another reminder that our community has to continue our efforts to reduce dog homelessness because there are many dogs around the world who have been abandoned or have never had anyone to love them.
While I am very grateful for the important work of animal shelters, I also realize that rescue and surgical sterilization efforts are too costly and not enough to end the never-ending cycle.
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Following the two Healing Hangouts in early 2015, which were dedicated to exploring the options, we now have more details that we would love to share that with you in the upcoming webinar:
1. Zeuterin - the product and details about my meeting with the company that makes it
2. Course - details on what I learned about using the product
3. Pilot Project - the next step in creating a repeatable non-profit process for population control
Now that we have more concrete ideas about how it can be done, we can't wait to work with you and our community to make it a success!
We already have about $3,500 for the pilot project and also plan to donate a part of the proceeds from the sales in November and December.
Click here to register for our Healing Hangout on November 22nd at 9 a.m. (PST) to learn more.
I will see you at the event on Sunday!
With gratitude,
Dr. D
© Dr. Peter Dobias, DVM
