Ukraine’s ‘Hachiko’ finds new home

Jiji Press

17:30 JST, April 16, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — An Akita dog in Ukraine, dubbed “Hachiko of Makariv” by local media, has found a new home, Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine’s internal affairs minister, said.

The dog, Reeny, became famous for loyally waiting for the return of its original owner in front of their home, not knowing that the woman had been raped and killed in a house next door in Makariv in the northern Ukraine province of Kyiv, after Russia launched its invasion of the neighboring country.

The nickname is based on Hachiko, a famous Akita that continued to visit Tokyo’s Shibuya Station to wait for the return of its deceased owner for years.

According to Gerashchenko on Twitter, the name of Reeny’s new owner, Nadezhda, means “hope” in Ukrainian.

Gerashchenko said that Reeny’s new family owns another Akita.

Reeny’s new owner visited Makariv after finding about the faithful dog. After days of bringing food and clothes for Reeny, the Akita finally started to show affection.