Hero dog that saved owner during three weeks lost in chilly Siberian wilderness has died

Vladimir Vinogradov, 65, from Kranosyarsk and his white dog Tor went missing in early October. 

A hunt by the Emergencies Ministry and some 100 searchers failed to locate them, and they were given up for dead.  

Rescuers spent three weeks checking 100 square kilometres of forest but believed  it was impossible to survive for so long. 

There were fears the pair had been attacked by wild animals. 

But on 21 October Vladimir and his dog walked out of the forest close to the village of Kuskun some 54km east of Krasnoyarsk. 

They were very thin and exhausted, but otherwise seemed well.

They survived by hugging each other and warming each other up in a hut made of fir tree branches. 

Vladimir was drinking vegetable oil and chewed fir tree tar. 

Luckily, Vladimir had a box of matches with him and managed to cook and catch mice for Tor to eat.

Yet the hunger was so strong that the bullterrier was chewing on owner’s coat and backpack. 

Tor was checked by Krasnoyarsk vet and was diagnosed with intestinal obstruction. 

He underwent surgery and was in unstable condition for days afterwards; last night the dog died.

‘Tor is gone; doctors did all in their power but the miracle didn’t happen’, Vladimir’s daughter Tatiana posted on her social networks.

People in Krasnoyarsk who helped with searches and worried for the man and his dog went to social media to express condolences. 

‘Really lost for words to support you and express our heartfelt condolences. Wishing you all to be strong. Thor was loved by everyone in your family, he knew it and was happy to be with you for as long as he could’, said one of the commentators. 

Marina from Krasnoyarsk said in comment: ‘Your dog showed us yet again that dogs have hearts of gold. Thor stayed with your father all the way through their ordeal, he is a hero and will be remembered by all us’. 

The pensioner told how the scariest moment was when they suddenly saw a mother bear and its cub.

‘I was frightened, for myself and Tor,’ he said. 

‘I rushed at the dog, and covered him, clamping his mouth. 

‘If he had started barking, the bear would have torn him apart. 

‘Then it would have got me. But we happily escaped.’

He told how in the cold ‘we slept, hugging each other’ in a makeshift shelter  he made of tree branches.

‘It was easier with (Tor) next to me.’