A loyal dog refused to leave the place where her owner fell through the ice into a frozen river.
Photos have shown Belka sitting by the place where her owner, who was bicycling, plunged into the icy waters in Bashkiria, Russia.
After a four day search for Belka’s owner, the body of the 59-year-old was discovered downstream in the Ufa River.
Even after the body of Belka’s owner was found, she keeps returning to the spot where he fell through the ice – even after family members retrieved her and took her back home.
The heartbreaking tale has led Russians to compare Belka to the famous Japanese Akita dog Hachikō, a pet who waited endlessly for his master, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor at the University of Tokyo, who had died.
Her owner had taken a short cut across the frozen river but the ice was not yet thick enough to hold him.
A man attempted to help Belka’s owner, and was later rescued, suffering from frostbite.
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.’
This located the man’s bicycle bit took much longer to find the missing dog owner.
Mr Perov went on to urge locals to ‘follow the rules of safe behaviour and do not put your life in danger’.
Belka shares the name of one of the famous Soviet space dogs sent into orbit aboard Sputnik 5 spacecraft in 1960.
One devoted dog waited for days outside a hospital where her sick owner was receiving treatment.
The loyal pet, named Boncuk, followed an ambulance taking Cemal Senturk to hospital in Turkey. The pet refused to leave until she had seen her owner.
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