THIS is the heartbreaking moment a loyal dog waited for her owner to return for four days after he drowned.
Belka kept returning to the spot where her owner, 59, fell through the ice on the 23ft-deep Ufa River in Russia.
Belka waited patiently while rescue teams carried out a four-day searchEast2West
The owner’s family took her home, but Belka kept coming back to the spot where she saw her owner fall throughEast2West
A bike belonging to the owner was discovered before his body wasEast2West
Belka’s owner died after taking a shortcut across the ice that wasn’t thick enough to hold him.
He was tragically swept downstream in the fast-flowing river – and it took four days to find his body as rescuers launched a frantic search.
And loyal Belka – unaware of the tragedy – waited the entire time for her owner to return.
The night didn’t scare her away either – with snaps showing Belka glowing in the dark as she continued her mission.
Despite the fact that Belka was waiting in the wrong spot, she stood guard anyway – refusing to give up hope.
The dead man’s family took Belka home several time – but she kept returning to the spot where she saw her owner plunge into the water.
After the accident, a rescuer went out to try and save the pet owner, and nearly lost his own life.
The man was found suffering with severe frostbite.
A bike belonging to the owner was found before the four-day search for his body was concluded.
Kirill Pervov, head of the rescue service in Bashkiria, said: “During the search, the rescue team used an air cushion boat with a hooking device to survey the river bottom.”
“Search work was complicated by difficult conditions – a strong current and unstable ice crust.”
He urged locals to “follow the rules of safe behaviour and do not put your life in danger”.
“Do not go out on thin ice,” he added.
Belka shares the name of one of the famous Soviet space dogs sent into orbit aboard Sputnik 5 spacecraft in 1960.
Russians are comparing the loyal pet to the famous Japanese Akita dog Hachikō, a pet who waited endlessly for his master, Hidesaburō Ueno.
Hidesaburō was a professor at the University of Tokyo who had died.
East2WestBelka helps in the rescue mission as she sniffs along the ice for potential clues[/caption]
East2WestThe ice where the owner fell in was only three quarters of an inch thick[/caption]