Residents Erect Statue As Tribute To Stray Dog That Roamed Their Streets For 12 Years

The residents of a neighborhood in Tallinn, Estonia put up a statue as a tribute to a stray dog that roamed their streets for 12 years.

Zorik, a black-and-white mutt, was recently taken from the Estonian capital to the countryside to spend his last days in safety. The residents missed him so much that they raised funds to immortalize him.

"People donated for the monument. They wanted it and they still follow his fate even though he is already old and frail," animal rescue volunteer Heiki Valner said as per AP News. It was Valner who came up with the idea of a statue to honor Zorik.

A local artist was commissioned to create the statue. Complete with Zorik's upright ears, shaggy hair around his muzzle and a cat nestled against him, it now stands in a front of a shopping center in the Kalamaja neighborhood.

According to the residents, the statue is also a tribute to other strays, as Zorik was always seen with stray cats, even while sleeping.

The pooch first appeared as a pup in this working-class neighborhood 12 years ago. Since then, he roamed the neighborhood without being domesticated.

Apart from being close to other animals in the neighborhood, Zorik is known for being friendly to people. In fact, he befriended both ethnic Estonians and ethnic Russians, managing to bridge the divide that has long existed between them.

Zorik even won the hearts of both Russian-speaking old women and Estonian hipsters, who are now opening a cafe caled "Zorik."

"Zorik was a dog who was able to disappear, he was a dog whom everyone in Kalamaja knew, he touched everyone — young and old, Estonians and Russians. He was a point of social integration," Valner said.

The dog was well-liked in the neighborhood that residents sometimes fed him with cuts of beef. However, he didn't want to be petted and tried to keep away from human beings. When anyone tried to restrict him, Zorik just escaped. Valner described him as a free spirit.

Viktoria Ger, a resident in the neighborhood, once sheltered him in an enclosure behind her family home. She said Zorik was a "peculiar dog."

Zorik was removed from the city to protect him from the dangers that come with old age.

"In the end, he was so senile that he would just fall asleep on the railway or tram tracks or just here on the road so that cars had to drive around him. We received several calls a day when he was on the road, so finally, we had to get him away from the streets in his own interest," Valner said.