Cause of hero dog's death found
Source: Agencies |
March 3, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SCIENTISTS have settled a decades-old mystery by naming a cause of death for Japan's most famous dog, Hachiko, whose loyalty was -immortalized in a Hollywood movie starring Richard Gere.
They say Hachiko died of cancer and worms, not because he swallowed a chicken skewer that ruptured his stomach - as legend had it.
For years, Hachiko used to wait at Shibuya train station for its master, a professor at the University of Tokyo. Even after the professor died, the dog went to the station to wait for his master every afternoon for a decade until he died.
Tokyo residents were so moved that they built a statue of Hachiko at the station, which remains a popular rendezvous spot for Japanese today. He was also the hero of Japanese children's books.
The dog's story turned into a 2009 Hollywood film, "Hachi: A Dog's Story," starring Richard Gere - a remake of a 1987 Japanese movie.
Hachiko was considered such a model of devotion that his organs were preserved when he died in 1935.
Rumor had it that Hachiko died after wolfing down a skewer of grilled chicken that ruptured his stomach.
But University of Tokyo veterinarians examining his innards said yesterday that they found Hachiko had terminal cancer and also a filaria infection - -commonly known as worms.
They say Hachiko died of cancer and worms, not because he swallowed a chicken skewer that ruptured his stomach - as legend had it.
For years, Hachiko used to wait at Shibuya train station for its master, a professor at the University of Tokyo. Even after the professor died, the dog went to the station to wait for his master every afternoon for a decade until he died.
Tokyo residents were so moved that they built a statue of Hachiko at the station, which remains a popular rendezvous spot for Japanese today. He was also the hero of Japanese children's books.
The dog's story turned into a 2009 Hollywood film, "Hachi: A Dog's Story," starring Richard Gere - a remake of a 1987 Japanese movie.
Hachiko was considered such a model of devotion that his organs were preserved when he died in 1935.
Rumor had it that Hachiko died after wolfing down a skewer of grilled chicken that ruptured his stomach.
But University of Tokyo veterinarians examining his innards said yesterday that they found Hachiko had terminal cancer and also a filaria infection - -commonly known as worms.
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