If you’ve seen the movie Hachiko, then you know exactly how grief can be expressed by animals.
Dogs cannot understand absence to its full extent, but they can notice the differences when their owner is not around anymore. First of all, thought the senses of sight and smell.
“My definition of grief is that a surviving animal shows distress through behavior that is markedly divergent from his routine,” Barbara J. King, professor emerita of anthropology at the College of William and Mary, explains.
Indeed, animals, and especially such smart animals as dogs, not only understand that their owner is missing, but they are too loyal to let go.
They somehow try to connect with their lost owner, even years after their passing.
Similar to Hachiko, who used to wait for his owner at a Japanese train station, Vaguito waited for his owner at a beach in Peru.
— O1979 (@O19792) February 28, 2022
Jolie Mejia, who lives in the South American country, headed to Punta Negra, a small seaside community near her home, with her family a while ago.
There, she spotted a beautiful dog staring at the sea. She fell in love with the dog who seemed to have been abandoned, but she had no idea whether the canine was a stray or it belonged to someone.
“He didn’t seem abandoned. He wore a ribbon around his neck and his fur was clean,” Mejía told The Dodo. “I pet him, waiting for his owner, but minutes passed and no one came.”
As the time passed, Mejia started feeling sorry for the dog, who was obviously waiting for someone that wouldn’t come.
She and her family started considering taking the dog home and adopting him, so it would make sense to ask locals whether he was actually abandoned or if someone was taking care of him.
So, she decided to ask someone who was local to the area about the dog’s background story. And what she found out simply made her heart sink.
“He explained that practically everyone in the area knows the dog and is very fond of him,” Mejía said. “He told us that the dog’s owner was a fisherman who passed away some time ago, and that the dog comes to the beach every day and stares out to sea.”
Mejia believed that the Vaguito’s, as is the dog’s name, owner had passed away about a year ago, and, since then, the dog had been going to that spot gazing at the ocean, as if he was waiting for his owner to come back.
But, although his owner is never to come back, Vaguito has found a loving family in the area.
All the locals there know him and they enjoy taking care of the sweet dog. Also, it seems that a certain woman is now Vaguito’s caretaker. Mejia may have left Punta Negra without a new dog, but Vaguito’s story will certainly stay with her for a long time.
Watch the details of this bittersweet story in the video below.
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