Like a scene from a movie, Olga was driving along a highway in the north of Russia when she spotted the ghostly figure walking through the rain on the side of the highway in the north of Russia. She kept driving, but couldn't put it out of her head, so she turned around. Nine miles back she found Kiryusha the dog -- exhausted, soaking wet, and lost. Even in his condition, she could tell he was a sweet teddy bear of a dog. Olga sweetly piled the pup into the back of her car and drove him to find safety. She would also soon find an answer to the question of why Kiryusha was out there all alone.
Olga didn't know this yet, but it turns out that Kiryusha's owners had decided they didn't want the German Shepherd anymore. So they had buried him alive.
Sign the petition and demand that Kiryusha's owners be charged with animal cruelty, and that they be barred from ever owning an animal again.
Olga drove almost 100 miles to a rescue that would nurse Kiryusha back to help, who also started to widely share pictures of the pooch in case his family was worried and searching for him. But soon, tips started coming in -- people in the town of Yemva seemed to recognize his big, cuddly face with floppy ears and a goofy grin, and eventually his owners were located. Once the details came to light, Olga's experience probably turned from feeling like a strange movie to a nightmare. Instead of displaying ecstasy at being reunited with one's lost and hurting pet, they acted more like they had just seen a ghost.
The owners divulged their horrifying actions. They claimed that Kiryusha was "unhealthy" -- a claim totally negated by those who cared for him at the shelter, who said he had no serious medical problems -- and so they had taken it upon themselves to inject the poor, defenseless dog with a drug they thought would kill him.
Then, the horror continued as Kiryusha's would-be murderers dug a grave for the pup's body, leaving him for dead. But Kiryusha wanted to live. The brave dog woke up, dug himself free, and began walking. Maybe he was trying to get back home to the owners who he thought loved him; who he trusted. Or maybe he knew he needed to find someone else's help, and quickly. Whatever was going through Kiryusha's head, he must have been so relieved when Olga arrived and treated him with the kindness he deserves.
Kiryusha's caretakers describe him as calm and sweet, and pictures show him with his signature goofy grin. This story could have ended so much worse for him, but the actions of Olga and those at the shelter created a happy ending.
That does not mean that the story is over, though. While Kiryusha's former owners apologized for their "mistake" of burying him alive, that's not enough. That simply means they are sorry he wasn't actually dead before they buried him. In other words: they're not sorry for injecting him with murderous poisons. They do not regret their cruelty -- they only regret not finishing the job.
These tormentors, who thought that a dead dog was better than one they would have to care for, could potentially do this again to more animals in the future. That's why we are asking that Russian law enforcement charge them with animal cruelty and bar them from ever owning an animal again! Sign the petition today!
