Capitan, a devoted dog that slept at his master’s gra.vestone every night for 11 years, has passed.
Miguel Guzman, who had acquired the black Alsatian as a present for his son Damian, di.ed in 2006 in Villa Carlos Paz, near Cordoba, Argentina’s second city, at the age of four.
Shortly later, the dog vanished, and the family assumed he had found a new home or been kiIIed.
But Capitan showed up many months later, during one of their trips to the gra.ve in 2007. Neighbors informed them how they started feeding him after they noticed he slept beside the tomb every night, much to their surprise.
As a result, the bereaved dog kept his sorrowful vigil until he di.ed a few days ago at the age of roughly 15 years, according to the daily newspaper La Voz.
The fact that the cemetery was so far away from their home and Capitan had never escorted them there before he vanished astounded the family the most.
Mr Guzman’s wife Veronica told Argentina’s Cordoba newspaper six years ago, reflecting on the pet’s funeral vigil: ‘We sought for him but he had vanished.’ We assumed he’d been hit by a car and di.ed.
‘We returned to the cemetery the next Sunday, and Damian recognized his pet.’ Capitan approached us, screaming and barking as if he was crying.’
‘We had never taken him to the cemetery, so it’s a mystery how he found it,’ she continued.
‘The next Sunday, we returned, and he was still there.’ This time, he accompanied us home and stayed with us for a while before returning to the cemetery before it got dark.
‘I don’t think he wanted to leave Miguel on his own at night.’
‘He turned up here one day, all by himself, and started wondering all over the cemetery until he eventually located his master’s tomb,’ said the cemetery’s director, Hector Baccega.
‘During the day, he takes a stroll around the cemetery, but he always returns to his gra.ve.’ And he sleeps down on top of the gra.ve every day at six o’clock sharp and stays there all night.’
The faithful pup was fed and cared for by the cemetery staff.
Mr Guzman’s son Damian claimed he attempted several times to bring Capitan home, but he always returned to the cemetery.
‘I imagine he’ll be there till he di.es, too,’ he added poignantly. He’s taking care of my father.’
Following owner Hidesaburo Ueno’s dea.th at work in May 1925, an Akita named Hachiko is claimed to have waited at a Tokyo train station every day for nine years for her master to return.
