Spitak, an Armenian city whose fame is sad and associated with an earthquake that claimed thousands of lives. There are hundreds of graves in the local cemetery, connected by a single date – December 1988. On all the graves there is also a date of birth and a surname and a name, but on one of them there is only one name – Zhuzha, the day of the dog’s death is different, but she is one of those for whom the earthquake became a turning point.
More than 25,000 local residents became victims of the rampage of nature, and the ordinary mongrel Zhuzha, in a situation where people were at a loss, helped a small child survive. The mongrel was under the rubble next to a one-year-old baby, whom she warmed with her body for several days. The dog took care of the little girl and did everything possible for the child to survive.
Rescuers periodically stopped work, everything around froze, because only in this way they could hear calls for help that were heard from under the rubble. At such moments, Zhuzha began to howl with all her might, trying to be heard. Rescuers heard the dog crying, but were in no hurry to come to the rescue, because they first of all tried to save people.
Zhuzha realized that no one would respond to her calls, then she did what she had never allowed herself: the dog slightly bit the baby. The girl began to cry, and the rescuers realized that the dog was not alone under the rubble. Zhuzhu and the baby were quickly found and taken out of the ground, both the animal and the child were crying loudly at that moment.
In the Saryan family, together with the girl Lara Zhuzha she saved, she spent another ten years, and when the pet was gone, the owners buried her where they found the rest of the earthquake victim. It is not customary to bury animals next to people, but Zhuzha deserved it with her deed.
