A loyal dog is pulling at the heartstrings of locals and people abroad alike. After its owner fell into ice, the dog refused to leave the spot on the frozen river. It's a sad story that makes me honestly a bit weepy.
A dog named Belka was journeying with her owner when he tragically broke through the ice and drowned after falling into the river. The dog owner had been trying to take a shortcut when the tragedy occurred. He ended up falling through the ice. It took four days for authorities to locate his body after it drifted downstream.
Belka refused to abandon her owner. Even after the man's family took her home, she returned to the same spot on the frozen river as if waiting for him to return. 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."
Dog Waits For Owner
It's a sad story for all those involved. But why did Belka refuse to leave the spot? It's a phenomenon observed in several dogs. Sometimes dogs will visit the graves of their owners as if waiting for them to return. University of British Columbia psychology professor Stanley Coren told IFLScience said, "All of our current research tends to show that dogs have a mind which is roughly equivalent to a human child between the ages of two to three years."
Dogs aren't able to grasp the concept of death. He said, "Prior to the age of about five, children don't understand some very basic concepts about death. And the major thing they don't understand is that death is irreversible." As such, they're unable to grasp that their owners won't return. He said, "Dogs are extremely social and are highly aware of the loss of an individual who is important in their life. But they don't have this idea that they are necessarily gone forever."
"I don't think the dog would be particularly astounded if his master or mistress sat up and walked out of the box," he also said. So, the dog probably thinks its owner will return.
