‘Till death do us part:’ Dog visiting caretaker’s funeral shatters netizens’ hearts

FILE: The world would be a nicer place if everyone had the ability to love as unconditionally as a dog.” ―M.K. Clinton. The Unconditional love of BUBOY & SIR MARCELO! (Photo: Mark Christian Pineda Arceo/Facebook)

Losing a pet is so much harder than expected. You wouldn’t know how much sleep and tears you would lose over your pet’s passing. You would not know when the gut-wrenching pain will end — or will it ever come to an end?

It is already hard for a pet owner to put into words how painful it is to lose a furpal, what more if the latter loses his human? What or who can soothe his aching heart?

On Monday, netizen Ma. Kristina Paola Demafelix shared on her Facebook account a story of a dog named Buboy who lost his caretaker, an educator named Carmelito Marcelo, due to stroke.

“Everytime I saw you buboy, naiiyak ako… Mawalan nga ng alagang aso masakit e. Mawalan pa kaya ng amo? Na nagturing sayo na pamilya, yung kahit walang pasok si sir pupunta siya ng school para tignan at bigyan ka ng pagkain (I cry… It is already painful to lose a dog, what more if they lose their owner that treated them like a family. Even though Sir Marcelo has no classes, he would still go to the school to look for you and give you food),” Demafelix wrote.

“Yung feeling ng d mo maexpress lahat ng sakit ksi hindi mo alam kung anong nangyari, kasi bigla nalang siyang hindi pumasok, pero still naghihintay ka parin sa labas ng faculty kung san mo sya laging hinihintay, lagi mong hinihintay yung pag dating nya. Pero buboy, yung hinihintay mo kasi wala na (That feeling when you cannot express the pain because you do not know what happened because he suddenly did not come to work, but still you are waiting from him outside the faculty room where you always waited for his arrival. But Buboy, the one you have been waiting for is already gone),” she continued.

The netizen recalled how Buboy used to follow Marcelo anywhere, even during his classes.

“‘Pag pasok palang nya sa gate ng school magtatatakbo ka para salubungin sya, yung ‘pag lunch time andun ka sa pinto ng faculty nla ksi hinihintay mo ung pagkain mo.. Pag-uuwi na si sir marcelo hinahatid mo pa sya sa may gate (Upon entering the school gate, you ran to him to welcome him. Every lunchtime, you are always at the door of the faculty room because you are waiting for him to give you food. When Sir Marcelo would go home, you would even escort him to the gate),” she shared.

Hoping that maybe the dog would understand why his caretaker was not around anymore, Demafelix brought Buboy at Marcelo’s wake. What transpired next made many netizens’ heart shatter to a million pieces.

In her another post, Demafelix shared a video of Buboy standing on a chair as he looks closer to his caretaker’s face for the last time.

“Kanina pong paalis kami ayaw bitawan ni buboy ung kabaong ni sir marcelo (When we are about to leave earlier, Buboy does not want to let go of Sir Marcelo’s coffin),” the Facebook user said.

Netizens were quick to sympathize with the pooch, whom they compared to Hachiko, the dog who was known for his remarkable loyalty to his owner. Not knowing that his owner, a professor, had passed away, Hachiko tirelessly waited for him to return from work for years at a train station in Japan.

Demafelix clarified that although Marcelo passed away, Buboy is not up for adoption.

“‘Yung original owner po nya andto pa po, nagkataon lang po tlga na close si sir marcelo at buboy (The original owner is still here, it’s just that Sir Marcelo and Buboy were really close),” she said.

As of writing, Demafelix’s post has 129,000 reactions, 17,000 comments, and 71,000 shares.

Aside from Demafelix, Mark Christian Pineda Arceo, Marcelo’s student, also posted photos of the two together on his Facebook timeline, along with a caption, ‘The world would be a nicer place if everyone had the ability to love as unconditionally as a dog.’ ― M.K. Clinton. The Unconditional love of BUBOY & SIR MARCELO!”

His post, meanwhile, has garnered 9,900 reactions, 1,300 comments, and 14,000 shares as of writing.