Arthur - The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home

Arthur - The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home
Author	Mikael Lindnord; Val Hudson;
Language	English
Genre	Biography
Publisher	Two Roads books
Publication date	19 May 2016

Arthur - The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home is a memoir written by Mikael Lindnord and Val Hudson in 2016. It is the true story of one man and a dog who found each other during an adventure race in Ecuador.

The book has been translated into multiple languages and has been adapted as the film Arthur the King by Lionsgate.

Plot

As Mikael Lindnord leads his Swedish adventure racing team on a challenging 435-mile journey through the jungles and mountains of South America, an unexpected companion joins them for the last stretch of the trip when Mikael shares a meatball with a scruffy yet dignified mongrel. The team find themselves unable to shake off their newfound canine friend, as this dog had been used to following foreigners on medical brigades and research expeditions. However, as Lindnord's team face rivers, illnesses, injuries, exhaustion and some of the toughest terrain on Earth, Mikael thinks he has formed a strong bond with the dog, now named Arthur.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Their shared odyssey, documented with candid photographs and narrated in compelling prose, serves as a powerful testament to the remarkable connection between dogs and humans. When the team reaches the finish line, Mikael decides to adopt Arthur and bring him back to his family in Sweden, demonstrating the enduring and extraordinary companionship that can develop between man and dog.^[4] Mikael never asked whose dog it was when he was in the region.

In November 2014, an Ecuadorian man told a local newspaper that Arthur was his dog, Barbuncho.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] Several people acquainted with the owner told Lindnord that he had actually taken the dog from a man and his family, but Lindnord then blamed them for being complicit in animal abuse. There was never any evidence of abuse, however; the dog lived in a rural, tropical area and was known to accompany his owner on hunting trips and treks with international tropical biologists and health professionals with whom the owner worked.^[9] After a petition was started by animal activists in Ecuador threatening violence towards and incarceration of the former owner, the owner and his acquaintances decided to back down to keep his family safe. ^[10]

Adaptation

The book has been adapted into the film Arthur the King, directed by Simon Cellan Jones and starring Mark Wahlberg as "Michael Light" (a fictional version of Mikael Lindnord), Simu Liu as Liam and Juliet Rylance as Mikael/Michael's wife Helena.^[11]^[12]^[13] Though the story recounted in the books took place in Ecuador, the film was set and filmed in the Dominican Republic, much to the consternation and disappointment of many Ecuadorians who felt that they have not stood to benefit, despite the dog being taken from their country.^[14]