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A 7-year-old Labrador Retriever that helped keep an 81-year-old man and his 3-year-old granddaughter warm after their car overturned, leaving them stranded on a snowy riverbank in Hokkaido earlier this month, has been given a gold medal and a certificate of thanks from the local town mayor.
The man, Yoshimasa Soma, and his granddaughter, Sukai Kimura, had taken the dog, named Junior, for a drive on Nov 15 in Naie town. Their car went off the road and fell several meters down a snowy embankment.
Police said it snowed throughout the night and the temperature fell to -3.8 Celsius. Soma told police that they remained in the overturned car. The engine wouldn’t start, and the windows were broken, so they kept their bodies close to the dog to maintain warmth.
A search party found them just before noon on Nov 16. They were suffering from slight frostbite and attributed their safe rescue to the dog.
In presenting the certificate to Junior on Thursday, the mayor of Naie said it was nice to hear some good news for a change amid all the gloom this year, NHK reported.
© Japan Today
17 Comments
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sensei258
I'm sure he'd rather have a steak.
Serrano
Or even just a bone.
Lunchbox
Pearls Before Swine, or neko ni koban.
I'm sure what it really wants is a bowl of meat, a car window to stick its head out of, and a bitch for the night.
Cricky
Lucky dog, much longer an it would have been a blanket and Sushimi.
CrazyJoe
This is good news. I hope Junior lives up to be Senior.
Bondsan
A good news story at last. After this week I was beginning to think it wasn't worth going on living.
Hope someone gives junior a huge steak :)
SamuraiBlue
I guess the saying "Give it to the dogs." got a new twist. LoL
globalwatcher
I am a dog lover. This is a heart warming story. Good job Junior! Hope he gets a thick juicy steak (medium rare)!!
GW
good on the dog, but what about my dog & 2cats, they always cozy up to keep me warm when I kick back in my lazyboy & open a book during the cozy season
Foxie
Somehow this truly nice story reminds me of the Shangri La hotel commercial. May the dog got inspired by it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZeS0Un3jwk
Elbuda Mexicano
I think Softbank should use tha Labrador in those great tv cms for their cellphones! Maybe get that grandpa and grand daughter in the background as extras??
Elbuda Mexicano
By the way I always love Foxie's great comments!!
nath
The only way this story could be better is if the dog were named Hachiko.
Maitake
Inaka town gives dog medal and certificate for being a dog on behalf of old man's lack of judgment and poor driving skills. claps hands slowly...
MaboDofuIsSpicy
I think the dog laid next to them just to get warm, and not to help.
The Munya Times
Nuts. Dogs don't appreciate medals. Give the old dog first class food, nice warm cushion and good vet care and love for the rest of her life.