Dogs make such a huge impact on our lives, and it’s sad that their lives aren’t as long as ours. But even when a pet crosses the rainbow bridge, their memory still lives on.
And some dogs’ memories can even live on for multiple generations.
One doggy gravestone is particularly special, as it comes with a local legend that will warm your heart.
Zach Medlin first came across the gravestone when he was walking his dog in Kiroli Park in West Monroe, Louisiana.
While his Staffordshire terrier, Serena, busied herself with chasing the ducks in a nearby lake, Zach stooped down to get a closer look at the gravestone.
It seemed off to him to lay a dog to rest in the middle of a forest.
“The inscription was covered by some pine straw,” Medlin told The Dodo. “So I had to move the pine straw out of the way to read what the grave marker had to say.”
The inscription on the grave read: “Buddie, 1928 — 1941. Born a dog / Died a gentleman.”
It was clear that Buddie had been greatly loved by his owners.
“It warms my heart to know that Buddie carried his owners through the Great Depression,” Medlin said. “All dogs deserve a grave marker.”
The grave bore little other context as to the type of dog Buddie had been — until one day, it was posted online.
Findagrave.com is a pretty cool website. It allows you to find the grave of ancestors, celebrities- and even animals.
People can share interesting gravestones that they’ve found on the website, as well as any myths or legends surrounding the deceased.
A woman named Lora Peppers shared Buddie’s grave on the website, along with a touching story.
Apparently, the park was a well-known summer camp spot for scouts.
Buddie served as the scouts’ mascot, and he would supervise them as they swam in the lake.
One day, one of the boys was out swimming when he got into some trouble.
Buddie began to bark loudly for help, but when no one came, he rushed into the pool himself and heroically saved the boy’s life.
The story says that this is how Buddie sadly passed away.
This story may be touching, but there’s not much evidence to prove that this happened.
Lora did some research and discovered that Buddie had led a pretty normal life.
“While I was reading newspaper clippings detailing the legend, I found a copy of a handwritten note dated October 18, 1993,” she wrote. “It says the following: ‘According to Mrs. Dee Strickland, the dog belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Albert H. Jones, 215 Breard St., Monroe. Mrs. Strickland lived with the Jones [family] in 1932. The dog was a beautiful Irish setter. Mr. Jones frequently took him to Kiroli Park to run, so when he died, he decided to bury him in Kiroli Park.’”
Of course, we can’t know for sure if Buddie’s life-saving actions happened or not. But either way, he’s still a great pup who deserves to be honored.
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