Apollko spent his last years with Janka Útla Lahutová, who was taking care of 9 other dogs at that time, took him in six years ago. (source: Courtesy of Facebook/Jana Útla Lahutová)
The capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, also had its Hachikō, a dog remembered for his remarkable loyalty. He was the mascot of the Bratislava Winter Harbour (Zimný Prístav).
The people who took care of the dog gave him different names. Apollo – after the bridge under which it used to live or Bobčo or Dunčík – both traditional dog names. A local legend says that he, as a puppy, sailed down the Danube to Bratislava on piece of wood from Austria. The harbour workers rescued him and took care of him afterwards, Iva Hložková, a volunteer from the Slovak Alliance of Animal Protectors (SAOZ), told the TASR newswire.
Hachikō
Hachikō (November 10, 1923 – March 8, 1935) was a Japanese Akita dog remembered for his remarkable loyalty to his owner, Hidesaburō Ueno, for whom he continued to wait for over nine years following Ueno’s death.
“When they left the harbour, the dog stayed there. Local staff and taxi drivers brought him food and built him a kennel under Apollo Bridge,” said Hložková.
But the mongrel was more or less alone and so he slowly started to roam around Bratislava. However, he always came back to the harbour, as if looking for the workers who took care of him with love. He lived in this way for 13 years.
“It was just a lucky accident that he was not hit by a car,” Hložková noted, confirming that Apollo’s story appeared in the media around 2017. That’s when volunteers from SAOZ got in touch and arranged for him to be examined by a vet.
“It was found that he had a diseased heart and a tumour on his testicle; he might not have survived another winter,” said Hložková. The dog was operated on and volunteers from SAOZ arranged for him to be taken to a shelter for senior dogs near Trenčín.
“Apollo finally got a home, a family and canine friends, and he obviously felt comfortable there. Some of his supporters were there to see him. He lived at the shelter for seven years. He died of old age in recent weeks at the age of some 20,” Hložková concluded.
