Royal Laika “Kamchatka”

This dog was picked up in July 1883 by sailors from the cruiser Africa in the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Returning from a long voyage from the Pacific Ocean, the sailors presented the Kamchatka Laika to Emperor Alexander III. They named the dog Kamchatka.

The white and tan Laika Kamchatka became a faithful companion of the Tsar and his family for years. There are many entries about him in the childhood diaries of the Grand Dukes and Princesses. This dog became the “personal” dog of Alexander III. “Do I have even one selfless friend among people, no and cannot be, but a dog can be, and Kamchatka was one,” Alexander III recalled about his pet.

Kamchatka accompanied the Tsar everywhere. The dog spent the night in the imperial bedroom in the Anichkov Palace, causing discontent among doctors, and accompanied the tsar on his voyages on imperial yachts. The tsar went hunting with her and fed her a specially prepared delicacy of minced meat and liver.

The dog’s life ended tragically: the train on which the royal family was returning from Crimea to St. Petersburg derailed near the Borki station. The imperial couple and their children escaped with bruises, and Kamchatka died.

The tsar ordered his faithful friend to be buried in Gatchina, in the garden opposite his office.