Lifestyle Pets Real Life 'Pet Sematary' : 'Dead' Dog Digs Himself Out of Grave, Reunites with Owners Who Buried Him The 18-year-old dog managed to claw his way out of the bag he was buried in and get to a nearby road By Kelli Bender Kelli Bender Kelli Bender is the Pets Editor at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2013. Her work has previously appeared on MTV, The Frisky, Vice, and Best Friends Magazine. People Editorial Guidelines Published on April 19, 2019 03:25PM EDT Photo: Irina Mudrova Open Your Hearts/Instagram Life can imitate art, sometimes eerily so. Shortly after the premiere of the remake of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, pets are rising from the dead. According to the International Business Times, two sisters in Novonikolsk, Russia, recently found their beloved 18-year-old dog lying still and unresponsive. The owners of the canine, believing the dog was dead, placed him in a bag and buried him in a shallow grave at a local pet cemetery. Return of the Zombie Cat! Family Has Funeral and Buries Feline, Then He Wanders Home It was later revealed that the dog, named Dik, was not dead, when the pet dug his way out of his grave. Dik managed to claw free and make his way to a nearby road before collapsing in exhaustion. Two teenage girls found the canine and contacted a local animal shelter called Open Your Hearts, reports The Epoch Times. The shelter got veterinary care for the scared pooch and posted photos of the new arrival to their social media pages. Dik’s owners happened to see these posts and recognized the dog they buried a day before. ‘Zombie Dog’ Rumors Haunt New Hampshire Cemetery The family contacted the shelter, and the facility’s head, Irina Mudrova, brought Dik back to his family. The owners were reportedly overjoyed to reunite with the pet they thought they lost forever. Both sisters donated money to the shelter to show their appreciation.