28/03 Dog saves owner from tsunami

Toru Asami / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Tami Akanuma plays with her dog, Babu, at an evacuation center in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, on Wednesday.

MIYAKO, Iwate--Babu does not normally like going for walks, but when the 12-year-old shih tzu insisted on going for one soon after the March 11 earthquake, her owner, Tami Akanuma, suspected something was amiss.

And when Babu stubbornly headed for a nearby hill rather than taking their usual route in the coastal city of Miyako, Akanuma decided to follow along.

Doing so may have saved Akanuma's life: Minutes after climbing the hill, a devastating tsunami slammed into the town, flattening the district of Taro-Kawamukai where they lived about 200 meters from the coast.

"Babu might have sensed a tsunami was coming," said Akanuma, 83.

Akanuma was relaxing in her living room when the quake struck off the Tohoku coast. The lights went out and Babu started scampering around the room, whimpering loudly and madly wagging her tail.

"It's a bit early for a walk," Akanuma thought, but she put Babu on her leash anyway. While they were in the entrance to Akanuma's home, a warning that a huge tsunami was heading for the Pacific coast was broadcast over the town's community speaker system.

Akanuma experienced the 1933 Showa Sanriku quake, which triggered a tsunami that left more than 900 people dead or missing in the Taro district. Her memories of that disaster meant they only had one option.

"We need to evacuate," Akanuma recalled thinking.

As soon as she opened the door, Babu frantically ran outside and headed toward a nearby hill--the opposite direction they usually go for a walk.

When Akanuma's pace slackened, Babu would look back, seemingly urging her owner to walk faster. When Akanuma caught up, Babu would bound ahead again, straining at her leash.

This game of hurry-up-and-catch-me continued over and over. When Akanuma finally took a breather, she had climbed the hill where an evacuation center is located about one kilometer from her home.

Turning around, Akanuma could barely believe her eyes: Most of the route she and Babu had walked had been swallowed up by the tsunami and her home had been consumed by the wall of muddy water.

Akanuma believes her pooch could tell something was wrong that day.

Babu is staying with Akanuma and about 60 locals at a hall being used as a shelter.

Babu turned 12 Wednesday. She seemed quite pleased to celebrate the event in her favorite pink outfit, which had been freshly washed for the big day.

(Mar. 28, 2011)