Every day, heartbroken Masha, a brown dachshund, waits in vain at a Siberian hospital for her owner who died a year ago. Her sad tale mirrors that of the famously loyal Japanese dog Hachiko who waited for his master at a train station for 10 years. Owing to the similarities between the two dogs, Masha has earned the nickname ‘Russia’s own Hachiko’.

The sweet little dog has been visiting the Novosibirsk District Hospital Number One for the past two years, ever since her owner – a pensioner from the village of Dvurechie – was admitted. Masha was his only visitor – she would go away at night to guard their house and return to the hospital in the morning to keep the man company.

Sadly, the man died a year ago but the loyal dog continues to show up every day, presumably because she believes he’s still there, or because she has nowhere else to go. With her undying loyalty, Masha has managed to worm her way into the hearts of the hospital staff. They now ensure that a warm bed and food await her whenever she arrives. They hope that she’ll be able to recover from her sadness and be able to find a new home.

“She is waiting for him, for her owner,” said nurse Alla Vorontsova. “Just recently a family tried to adopt her, but Masha ran away and returned to the hospital. She was taken on Friday evening, and at 3am on Saturday she was back here.”

“You see her eyes, how sad they are – it’s not the usual shiny eyes for when a dog is happy,” said chief doctor Vladimir Bespalov. “You can see this in animals in the same way as with people. There is no medicine that can help her, but we are still hoping that Masha will be able to find another owner. One day, our Masha will trust somebody.”

via Siberian Times