鎌田小のアイドル犬 「ポチ」が天国へ旅立つ Kamada Elementary School Idol Dog "Pochi" goes to Heaven.

From the Matsumoto Shimin Times, Tuesday June 30th 2009

"松 本市の鎌田小学校（田辺邦夫校長、８３１人）で１７年間、児童と教職員に育てられてきた犬の「ポチ」がこのほど病気で息を引き取り、７月１日に児童会が 「お別れ会」を開く。「学校のアイドルで、先輩のような存在」（６年生）だったポチがいなくなり、児童たちの間に悲しみが広がっている。"

Matsumoto city Kamada Elementary School (Principal Kunio Tanabe, 831 pupils) staff and students for 17 years kept and raised a dog called "Pochi". She died on last friday at school of respiritory failure. On the 1st of July a rememberance service will be held. "She was the school idol, we all looked up to her" A sixth grade student said. A great sadness was felt widely amongst the students upon news of her death.

My amateur translation. I visit Kamada Elementary School as part of my job and had met Pochi many times. She was blind, couldn't walk well and her 17 years had been tough on her but she was a nice animal. She was taken in with two siblings after they were abandoned 17 years ago in the neighbourhood and whilst her brother and sister found a new home noone wanted Pochi so the school raised her. My family once had a cat called Elgar with a very similar biography. She died the same day as Michael Jackson and whilst I'll miss both of them and the death of the "King of Pop" will have a wider resonance only one of those got covered in the Matsumoto Shimin Times.