A loyal dog has spent days waiting outside a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, waiting for the return of her owner who was a patient at the medical facility.
Boncuk, which means 'bead', in Turkish, sat patiently for days after her owner, Cemal Senturk, was taken to the hospital in the Black Sea city of Trabzon on the 14th of January. It is believed that she followed the ambulance that took her owner away and then returned daily to the hospital, a short distance from her home.
Senturk's daughter had repeatedly taken the dog back home but she was determined to be reunited with her companion and made daily trips to the hospital.
Hospital security guard, Muhammet Akdeniz, said of the dog's visits:
"She comes every day around 9 a.m. and waits until nightfall. She doesn't go in. When the door opens she pokes her head inside."
On Wednesday, Senturk and Boncuk were reunited when he was taken out of hospital briefly in a wheelchair and the two made an emotional reunion which was captured on video. In the video Boncuk can be seen wagging her tail and jumping up and down after being reunited with Senturk.
"She's very used to me. And I miss her, too, constantly."
Thankfully Senturk has now been released from hospital and making a full recovery at home with Boncuk.
Through history, cultures all over the world have stories of loyal dogs who either stayed with their sick owners or by their graveside after they passed. Among the most famous is the story of Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye terrier in Edinburgh, Scotland, who famously spent 14 years defending the grave of his owner who had passed until Greyfriars Bobby himself passed away in 1872. A small statue of Greyfriars Bobby now sits in Edinburgh as a sign of respect to the dog.
A similar story to that of Boncuk occurred in Spain in the 1990s. In Cadiz, Spain, a dog 'Canelo' spent 12 years outside a hospital in which his owner had died after suffering kidney failure. He now has a plaque in his honour in a street in Cadiz.
It is great news that the story of Senturk and Boncuk has ended on a far happier note than that of Greyfriars Bobby and Canelo.
h/t: AP News
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