TALLINN, Estonia (AP) – Zorik was never the type to wag his tail or lick his hands. But that didn’t stop the free-spirited stray dog from winning many hearts.
When the black-and-white mutt, with a long presence in a Tallinn neighborhood, was taken from the Estonian capital to rural areas earlier this year to live his days in the safe and restful surroundings of a family’s backyard, I missed him a lot because the inhabitants immortalized him with a statue.
“People donated for the monument. They wanted her and her fate still follows, even though she is already old and fragile, ”said Heiki Valner, an animal rescue volunteer who came up with the idea for the statue of Zorik and organized the fundraiser.
Donations were collected and a local artist was tasked with creating the likeness of Zorik, with his ears straight and his hair wrapped around his snout, along with a cat nestled against him.
The statue, which is now in front of a shopping center, is intended as a tribute to both Zorik and his animal companions and all the wanderers. Zorik once had a companion dog who was killed in a car accident. Then he took the stray cats and was seen with them often, even while sleeping.
Residents say Zorik first appeared as a chicken about 12 years ago in a coal storage area in a nearby port and has since been a device in Kalamaja, a working-class neighborhood that is turning into a coal mine. a magnet for hipsters.
In a society where the divide between ethnic Estonians and ethnic Russians is acutely felt, Zorik has managed to reduce the distance, gaining the Russian-speaking old women who fed him, as well as Estonian hipsters, including a group that now opens a cafe called “Zorik. ”
“Zorik was a dog that could disappear, it was a dog that everyone in Kalamaja knew, it touched everyone – young and old, Estonian and Russian,” Valner said. “It was a point of social integration.”
It was so pleasant that the locals sometimes fed it the best pieces of beef. But no one could ever catch him and the maid.
“When people tried to regulate or restrict him, he simply escaped,” Valner said. “He was just a free spirit.”
Viktoria Ger, who gave Zorik a new home in a dog house behind her own family home, describes him as a “strange dog.”
“He doesn’t want to be close to people, so he doesn’t like to be petted,” she said. Nearby, Zorik sat and trembled as a light dust of snow covered the ground and the pines that dotted the yard.
“He was probably hurt by people during his lifetime, so he doesn’t trust people,” she said.
Valner said Zorik eventually had to be removed from the city for his own safety.
“Eventually he was so senile that he would only fall asleep on the railroad tracks or the tram or right here on the road, so the cars had to move around him,” Valner said, pointing to the Kalamaja area. he was at home for a long time. to the dog. “We got several calls a day when he was on the road, so we finally had to take him off the street in his interest.”
Initially he tried to escape and return to his old roaming territory, but now his fragility has finally gained the free spirit.
As expected, there were those over the years who did not want their dog around.
“It was a competition for good and bad,” Valner said. “There were those who demanded to be captured and eliminated and others who protected and fed him. This time, kindness won. “
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One Good Thing ”is a series that highlights individuals whose actions give sparkles of joy in difficult times – stories about people who find a way to make a difference, no matter how small. Read the story collection at https://apnews.com/hub/one-good-thing