Bob Gravedigger, a dog whose loyalty to his deceased owner inspired a new law – credit, PATRE
The state of São Paolo in Brazil recently passed a law in honor of a famous loyal dog that will allow residents to have their pets buried in family cemetery plots.
Bob, nicknamed Bob Gravedigger, was an orange dog who spent 10 years living next to the grave of his owner after attending his funeral at Taboão da Serra cemetery.
Brazilian media reported that even after several attempts by the deceased’s next of kin to take Bob home, he would find a way to slip out of his house and return to the resting place of his master.
Bob Gravedigger eventually become a fixture of the cemetery, getting his own green doghouse from which he would emerge to comfort mourners on funeral days.
“People who were saddened by burying their loved ones would manage a smile when the little dog, who was crazy about balls, tried to play,” said a local animal rights charity PATRE, in a statement.
Bob died in 2021 after being hit by a car, and inspired by the story of his truly undying loyalty, the São Paolo state legislature passed the so-called “Bob Coveiro [Gravedigger] Law last Wednesday. It provides for family cats and dogs to be buried alongside their owners in family plots, provided sanitary conditions are met.
BRAZILIANS LOVE ANIMALS:
“Anyone who has lost a pet knows: it’s not just an animal. It’s a family,” wrote representative Eduardo Nóbrega, one of the law’s authors, on social media. “And this law recognizes this bond, bringing more respect at the moment of farewell. Love does not end at goodbye.”
As well as being the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil has the world’s third-largest pet population, with almost 160 million owned animals according to national statistics.
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