Grave of a dog in the cemetery of the city of Spitak

At the Spitak cemetery, among hundreds of graves with the same date of death – December 7, 1988 – there is one without a cross, a star, or a photograph. There is only one name on the monument: Juja.

During a terrible earthquake that claimed the lives of 25,000 people, Juja, an ordinary mongrel, did the impossible. She saved a one-year-old girl who ended up under the rubble with her. For four days (!!!) the dog warmed the baby with its warmth.

When the rescuers arranged minutes of silence to hear living people under a pile of stones and sand, Juja howled. But animals were not a priority, people were more important …

And then Juja did something that she had never done before – she slightly bit the child. The girl began to cry, and thanks to this, both of them – a crying baby and an emaciated dog – were pulled out from under the rubble.

Juja lived with the family of Lala Saryan for another 12 years. And when she died, Lala’s relatives buried her at the Spitak cemetery among other human graves…

let not according to the rules, but on merit.

by Armenians And Armenia