A statue and home for their beloved stray dog

Donations were collected and a local artist was commissioned to create the likeness of Zorik, with his upright ears and shaggy hair around his muzzle, along with a cat nestled against him. Photos: AP

Zorik was never the tail-wagging or hand-licking type. But that didn't stop the free-spirited vagabond dog from winning many hearts.

When the black-and-white mutt, long a presence in a Tallinn neighborhood, was taken from the Estonian capital to the countryside earlier this year to live out his days in the safe and restful surroundings of a family's back yard, he was missed so much that the residents immortalised him with a statue.