Only Love

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

From CBC News:

A dog rescued from a floating roof in the sea off Japan's northeast coast more than three weeks after the tsunami has been reunited with her owner.

Wagging her tail, the two-year-old mixed-breed dog named Ban jumped into her owner's arms Monday at an animal shelter in the Miyagi prefecture in northern Japan.

Toshio Suzuki, who runs the shelter, said the owner's name will not be released for privacy reasons. The only details provided about the owner are that she is a woman, she has an adult daughter and the family suffered tsunami damage — although officials were not specific.

Two-year-old Ban yapped and jumped into the arms of her owner, a woman in her 50s and a resident of Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture, a port town severely hit in the March 11 disaster, television footage showed.

The reunion came about after the owner saw her dog's rescue on television on Friday.
The woman recognised her pet, which was kept in an animal shelter following its rescue late last week, after watching NHK.

"I recognised her immediately after seeing her face," she said, hugging the animal as Ban licked her face.

"I am happy that she seems healthy. I want to cherish her when I take her back."

The dog was found floating on a roof about two kilometres off the coast of Kesennuma. After multiple attempts, the Japanese coast guard eventually retrieved the emaciated dog.

It's believed she had been adrift since the March 11 tsunami that devastated the country.
A helicopter first spotted the dog, but the animal was scared by the propellers, so it hid under the roof.

Rescuers were forced to descend onto the roof to try to lure the dog to safety. They even tried to poke a hole in the roof, but the dog still stayed away.

Eventually, the dog was saved by a coast guard boat that took over the rescue when the helicopter ran low of fuel, Japanese broadcaster NTV said.

Public broadcaster NHK broadcast images of the reunion, with the woman hugging Ban and the dog warmly wagging her tail.

Suzuki said the shelter currently houses 19 dogs and several cats separated from their owners after the disaster