“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself.” – Josh Billings

A dog, ‘Leao’, sits for a second consecutive day, next to the grave of her owner, Cristina Maria Cesario Santana, who died in the week’s catastrophic landslides in Brazil, at the cemetery in Teresopolis, near Rio de Janiero, on January 15, 2011.
::sob::
UPDATE: Click here for a link to a photoblog of Leao.
UPDATE 2: Courtesy of commenter DJShay12 (and Google Translate):
The pooch Caramel, now days beside the grave of the lady, Maria Cristina Cesario Santana, who died as a result of heavy rains that hit the mountainous region of Rio last week, won a new home on Sunday. Adopted by a family of Barra da Tijuca, the dog is not the only one to wait for the owner even after his death.
According to veterinary Andrea Lambert, a member of the Special Committee of Animal Protection of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj) who rescued Caramel and other animals that were left homeless because of rain, stories like this are very common. – The pet has a lot of loyalty – he explains. – The owner ends up being the reference for everything.
In Edinburgh, Scotland, Skye Terrier Greyfriars Bobby statue got a trophy after spending 14 years guarding his owner’s grave until his own death on January 14, 1872. Similar story to the movie Always by your side (2009), starring Richard Gere, in the the dog Hachiko always going to spend years at the same time a train station waiting for the owner who died.
[via The Daily Dish; Photo by Vanderlei Almeida/AFP/Getty]