Stahlke Adoption

In the Stockholm truck attack last week, four people lost their lives.  One of the victims was an 11-year-old deaf girl who did not hear the truck approaching from behind her.  The Swedes poured out their grief, especially by laying flowers at the site of the crime.  Eventually, the memorials were so overwhelming that the authorities moved them to a large square nearby:

Right before the truck approached, someone was walking their dog down the street.  Five years earlier, they had received this rescue dog from a shelter in Dublin, Ireland.  His family loved this dog,  who they named Iggy, short for Igor.  His breed is called a lurcher, which is a cross between a greyhound and a working breed.  Lurchers are well-known for their hunting ability and loyalty to their master.

The truck struck and killed Iggy that day.  His master survived the attack, but experienced the horror.  In the days following, as the flowers grew for the human victims, a Swedish couple started a memorial for Iggy, too.  It quickly grew to become a sea of flowers, dog treats, and notes of sympathy. One of the visitors was a woman and her therapy dog, a golden retriever trained to help people who are ill or grieving.  The dog sensed that something there was not right, and he reached into his owner's bag to pull out a toy and leave it at the memorial.