09/04/2010 09:54 PM
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Zander: Adoption Success Story Hachiko: A Tail of Loyalty in Tokyo Immortalized in a Statue, Dog Who Showed Undying Devotion to Master 80 Years Ago Is Inspiring Human Connections Today (CBS) At a crossroad of busy 24/7 Tokyo, half a million people a day hurry by. But some pause, spending a moment with a dog who is the stuff of mythology, reports CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen. "His gaze looks lonesome," says 11-year-old Shinsaku, "like he knows his owner may not come back." His name is Hachiko, who waited every afternoon at the train station for his owner, a professor, who died suddenly in 1925. But Hachiko didn't understand that his master was gone. So for a decade, until he also died, he lived as a stray so he could come to the station at the same time with the same mission. To wait. In 1934 a statue was erected for the dog said to embody Japan's sense of loyalty after he became famous from newspaper articles and books. Tokyo's most famous dog also has a role to play in this modern day city of 13 million - because, if you want to link up with someone here, you just say, 'meet me at Hachiko.'" Over the decades, many a friendship started here - and many a blind date that led to marriage. And Hachiko still fuels the popularity of the breed - the Akita - distinctly Japanese with what some say are distinctly Japanese values. "The Akitas are like Samurai warriors," a breeder explained, "instinctively loyal to the leader of their human family." Americans will learn Hachiko's story in a Richard Gere movie out later this year, but set in the U.S. Back in Japan, the paw prints at the nearby train station lead thousands to Hachiko. A dog who was forever lonely for one more pat on the head, one last moment of his master's love. "Prayer for Animals --
Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals, especially for animals who are suffering; for animals that are overworked, underfed and cruelly treated; for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars; for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry; for all that must be put death. We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity, and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion and gentle hands and kindly words. Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals, and so to share the blessings of the merciful. - Albert Schweitzer "
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