If there is one film that will undoubtedly make you sob like it’s nobody’s business, it’s the renowned “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale.” Based on a true story of a highly loyal and devastated Japanese Akita that waited for his owner at Tokyo’s Shibuya railway station every day for nine years following his death.
Being a symbol of amazing loyalty and faithfulness, Hachiko was represented in countless adaptations throughout pop culture worldwide: novels, films, monuments, and more. The heartbreakingly sad story of a magnificent bond between man and his loyal dog is repeating itself 94 years later in Greece, where this dedicated family dog hasn’t moved an inch from the spot where his owner met his horrible ending 18 months ago.
So grab a napkin as this will one again illustrate that we don’t deserve our gorgeous dogs. And if you thought you’re a truly loyal and kind buddy, this family pet will teach you more than your heart can manage.
According to Nafpaktia News, the dog’s owner was a 40-year-old man called Haris, who died on 9 November 2017 after a collision with a cement mixer on the Old Ring Road near the River Evinos. The news rocked the local community since just a few years previously, his brother had lost his life in a similar disaster.
It remains a mystery how this modern-day Hachiko made it to the precise spot the deadly collision occured, which is seven-and-a-half kilometers away from his home in Nafpaktos, yet he refuses to relocate from his owner’s roadside shrine. He has been mourning for one-and-a-half years at the same spot and returning to it every time despite the failed efforts of locals to pull him off the road and provide him a loving family.
Touched by the dog’s determination of sticking near his human best buddy even after his death, locals have given up on attempting to convince the obstinate pup to depart his new home. Instead, they decided to make his life more comfortable by constructing him a modest shelter by the highway, making a shrine to his owner, and routinely giving him food and water as he’s staring into the distance as he patiently waits for his human to return. The loyal pet became known as the “Greek Hachiko” in honor of the legendary Akita.
