It's a story to warm the hearts of dog lovers.
After Aslan Abashidze, the embattled former leader of Georgia's Adzharia region, fled to Moscow on May 6, his beloved Caucasian shepherd, Basmach, grew despondent and refused to eat.
"The dog was not looking well, he was missing his owner," said Yuza Beradze, the head of Georgia's Kennel Club.
So one week later, a flight was chartered to fly Basmach to Moscow and reunite him with his master. It was a homecoming of sorts. Basmach is now back in the city where he was born and is still loved by Russian breeders of the bear-like guard dogs.
The failing condition of the 4-year-old dog, the current world champion, had alarmed professional dog breeders working to maintain the breed in Russia.
A number of them sent telegrams on May 12 to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, and Parliament Speaker Nino Burdzhandze asking them to step in.
"I had people helping me to draft them, and I myself sent two of them," said Tatyana Yagodkina, a breeder who three years ago gave Basmach to Abashidze and is now caring for him again at her kennels outside Moscow.
The day after the telegrams were sent, the dog's handler in Batumi, Vakhtang Sintadze, was ordered to pick up Basmach and board a specially chartered plane. A few hours later the dog was in Moscow.
"I got a phone call when the plane was already in Moscow," Yagodkina said. The dog's arrival also was a surprise for Abashidze, she said.
"[Basmach] was so happy, he started to jump as soon as he saw me. He always does when he is glad," said Yagodkina, who has never lost contact with the dog and has continued to handle him at competitions. This is no simple task. Basmach measures 77 centimeters to 78 centimeters at his withers and usually weighs about 80 kilograms, although he is now down to about 70 kilograms, she said.
What prompted the Georgian authorities to react so quickly is unknown, but breeders of Caucasian shepherds in Moscow and Georgia suspect that
Zhvania's training as an animal psychologist may have had something to do with it. Saakashvili and Burdzhanadze also are said to be fond of dogs.
Those who have seen Basmach and Abashidze together said they indeed seem to have a special relationship.
"Basmach is not a simple dog and has a quite complicated personality," Beradze said. He was truly attached to Abashidze, however, even though Abashidze acquired him when he was already 14 months old, Beradze said.
"When Abashidze is around, Basmach won't let anyone anywhere near him," Yagodkina said, adding that even she comes in second in the dog's eyes.
The affection appears to be mutual. Abashidze had special premises built at the offices of Adzharia's Supreme Soviet so Basmach could visit him at work. RIA-Novosti reported that Abashidze had been offered hundreds of thousands of dollars for the prizewinning dog but had refused to sell him.
Abashidze had kept Basmach with about 80 other dogs at his kennels outside Batumi, and the fate of the other dogs was less clear. Most were Caucasian shepherds, but there also were Central Asian shepherds and representatives of other large breeds.
Beradze, who visited the kennels last week, said 59 dogs remained, with some presumably already haven been given away. The Georgian government's plans to auction off the dogs, however, have been abandoned, he said.
"The breeding center will continue its work," he said. "There is money allocated by the Georgian government as well as from other sources."
The kennels were part of a more comprehensive breeding center that also housed pedigree goats and cows, horses and ostriches. Abashidze planned to use the animals to enrich agriculture in the region. The Caucasian shepherds were being bred under Abashidze's patronage with the intention of restoring the breed to Georgia.
Georgian breeders say the Caucasian shepherd originated in Georgia but had all but disappeared from its homeland during Soviet times. Under Josef Stalin, a Georgian, the best dogs were taken to Russia, and the Stalin-era repressions that sent entire populations of various Caucasus peoples into exile in Central Asia and Siberia took a further toll on the survival of the breed.
The turmoil of the era is also reflected in the development of the breed. For example, in the 1930s one of the foundation stud dogs, called Varyag, was owned by VolGulag, the Volga region branch of the gulag. The name Basmach refers to the Basmachi, groups who revolted against Soviet rule in Central Asia after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Abashidze, who defied Saakashvili's new government in Tbilisi and stepped down in the face of an ultimatum from the Georgian president, has a controversial political reputation at home and abroad. But among Russian breeders of Caucasian shepherds, his efforts to develop the breed have made him something of an icon figure.
"He really is a great man. He is incredibly smart and is a great statesman," said Galina Kirkitskaya, the head of the Russian Association of Caucasian Shepherd Breeders and a deputy head of the international body uniting fans of the dogs. Abashidze heads this organization.
Saakashvili's government has confiscated Abashidze's property -- including three Hummers, works of art and antique furniture, as well as the pedigree dogs -- and said it would be sold at auction. Abashidze will not challenge the confiscation of the other dogs, provided the breeding program is maintained, according to Yagodkina.
But if the dogs are to be dispersed and sold into unknown hands, he will support Russian breeders who are pushing for them to be brought here, she said.
Kirkitskaya said she has already received a number of calls from people willing to buy some of Abashidze's dogs.
Yury Karepin, who runs kennels called Ordyntsy in Podolsk, a town south of Moscow, said he has offered to pay to fly the remaining dogs up from Batumi and to keep them until their fate can be decided.
"We aren't political analysts and it's not our right to judge Aslan Abashidze as a politician, but as breeders, we know how important it is to preserve a breed."
Yagodkina was coy when asked whether Abashidze has seen Basmach since the dog arrived at her kennels, called Russky Risk, and located near Lubertsy, a town on Moscow's southeastern outskirts. Abashidze has kept a low profile since flying to Moscow and his whereabouts were not known.
Calls to Saakashvili's press office for information on the fate of Abashidze's dogs and other property went unanswered.
After Aslan Abashidze, the embattled former leader of Georgia's Adzharia region, fled to Moscow on May 6, his beloved Caucasian shepherd, Basmach, grew despondent and refused to eat.
"The dog was not looking well, he was missing his owner," said Yuza Beradze, the head of Georgia's Kennel Club.
So one week later, a flight was chartered to fly Basmach to Moscow and reunite him with his master. It was a homecoming of sorts. Basmach is now back in the city where he was born and is still loved by Russian breeders of the bear-like guard dogs.
The failing condition of the 4-year-old dog, the current world champion, had alarmed professional dog breeders working to maintain the breed in Russia.
A number of them sent telegrams on May 12 to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, and Parliament Speaker Nino Burdzhandze asking them to step in.
"I had people helping me to draft them, and I myself sent two of them," said Tatyana Yagodkina, a breeder who three years ago gave Basmach to Abashidze and is now caring for him again at her kennels outside Moscow.
The day after the telegrams were sent, the dog's handler in Batumi, Vakhtang Sintadze, was ordered to pick up Basmach and board a specially chartered plane. A few hours later the dog was in Moscow.
"I got a phone call when the plane was already in Moscow," Yagodkina said. The dog's arrival also was a surprise for Abashidze, she said.
"[Basmach] was so happy, he started to jump as soon as he saw me. He always does when he is glad," said Yagodkina, who has never lost contact with the dog and has continued to handle him at competitions. This is no simple task. Basmach measures 77 centimeters to 78 centimeters at his withers and usually weighs about 80 kilograms, although he is now down to about 70 kilograms, she said.
What prompted the Georgian authorities to react so quickly is unknown, but breeders of Caucasian shepherds in Moscow and Georgia suspect that
Zhvania's training as an animal psychologist may have had something to do with it. Saakashvili and Burdzhanadze also are said to be fond of dogs.
Those who have seen Basmach and Abashidze together said they indeed seem to have a special relationship.
"Basmach is not a simple dog and has a quite complicated personality," Beradze said. He was truly attached to Abashidze, however, even though Abashidze acquired him when he was already 14 months old, Beradze said.
"When Abashidze is around, Basmach won't let anyone anywhere near him," Yagodkina said, adding that even she comes in second in the dog's eyes.
The affection appears to be mutual. Abashidze had special premises built at the offices of Adzharia's Supreme Soviet so Basmach could visit him at work. RIA-Novosti reported that Abashidze had been offered hundreds of thousands of dollars for the prizewinning dog but had refused to sell him.
Abashidze had kept Basmach with about 80 other dogs at his kennels outside Batumi, and the fate of the other dogs was less clear. Most were Caucasian shepherds, but there also were Central Asian shepherds and representatives of other large breeds.
Beradze, who visited the kennels last week, said 59 dogs remained, with some presumably already haven been given away. The Georgian government's plans to auction off the dogs, however, have been abandoned, he said.
"The breeding center will continue its work," he said. "There is money allocated by the Georgian government as well as from other sources."
The kennels were part of a more comprehensive breeding center that also housed pedigree goats and cows, horses and ostriches. Abashidze planned to use the animals to enrich agriculture in the region. The Caucasian shepherds were being bred under Abashidze's patronage with the intention of restoring the breed to Georgia.
Georgian breeders say the Caucasian shepherd originated in Georgia but had all but disappeared from its homeland during Soviet times. Under Josef Stalin, a Georgian, the best dogs were taken to Russia, and the Stalin-era repressions that sent entire populations of various Caucasus peoples into exile in Central Asia and Siberia took a further toll on the survival of the breed.
The turmoil of the era is also reflected in the development of the breed. For example, in the 1930s one of the foundation stud dogs, called Varyag, was owned by VolGulag, the Volga region branch of the gulag. The name Basmach refers to the Basmachi, groups who revolted against Soviet rule in Central Asia after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Abashidze, who defied Saakashvili's new government in Tbilisi and stepped down in the face of an ultimatum from the Georgian president, has a controversial political reputation at home and abroad. But among Russian breeders of Caucasian shepherds, his efforts to develop the breed have made him something of an icon figure.
"He really is a great man. He is incredibly smart and is a great statesman," said Galina Kirkitskaya, the head of the Russian Association of Caucasian Shepherd Breeders and a deputy head of the international body uniting fans of the dogs. Abashidze heads this organization.
Saakashvili's government has confiscated Abashidze's property -- including three Hummers, works of art and antique furniture, as well as the pedigree dogs -- and said it would be sold at auction. Abashidze will not challenge the confiscation of the other dogs, provided the breeding program is maintained, according to Yagodkina.
But if the dogs are to be dispersed and sold into unknown hands, he will support Russian breeders who are pushing for them to be brought here, she said.
Kirkitskaya said she has already received a number of calls from people willing to buy some of Abashidze's dogs.
Yury Karepin, who runs kennels called Ordyntsy in Podolsk, a town south of Moscow, said he has offered to pay to fly the remaining dogs up from Batumi and to keep them until their fate can be decided.
"We aren't political analysts and it's not our right to judge Aslan Abashidze as a politician, but as breeders, we know how important it is to preserve a breed."
Yagodkina was coy when asked whether Abashidze has seen Basmach since the dog arrived at her kennels, called Russky Risk, and located near Lubertsy, a town on Moscow's southeastern outskirts. Abashidze has kept a low profile since flying to Moscow and his whereabouts were not known.
Calls to Saakashvili's press office for information on the fate of Abashidze's dogs and other property went unanswered.