Dog’s Slip Into Grave Provides Moment of Levity at Funeral

A sombre occasion was injected with some levity when a dog slipped and fell into a grave during a funeral in Auckland, New Zealand.Video filmed by Paul Graham shows Cochise, Graham’s 13-year-old dog, bark from the bottom of the grave as mourners respond to the end of the eulogy with an “amen”.According to Graham, Cochise was initially leashed but was freed by some of the children in attendance. The pooch fell into the grave during the eulogy and remained there for several minutes, barking away the entire time.Guy Yelchich, the son of the deceased, is heard asking people to “shove dad a little bit that way” to make room for him to jump down and retrieve Cochise from the pit.“Never knew you’d go in there before your dad,” jokes one mourner.“Everyone found it highly amusing and it really lightened the mood of the funeral. It was a traditional Maori tangi funeral, which had been going for three days at that point,” said Graham. Credit: Paul Graham via Storyful