Dog guards master’s body for 48 hours, against wild animals, biting cold

“A quotation by an anonymous writer says a dog is the only creature on earth that loves you more than itself.” Ravinder Sood

Palampur:These words seem apt in the case of Alpha, a German Shepherd who stood guard over the bodies of his master Abhinandan Gupta’and hius friend in freezing cold for 48 hours.at a height of 9,000 ft in the Bir area of Kangra

Refused to eat food

• It was a heart-wrenching sight when the police found the dog howling and moving around its master’s body
• When the police offered food to the dog, it refused to eat It later accompanied bodies till Bir in Palampur

The pet not only saved itself but also the bodies of its master and his friend from wild animals such as black bear and leopard, which are common in the area. Braving the cold, the dog sustained injuries while protecting the bodies against attack by wild animals as indicated by the mauled bodies of the two.

Abhinandan’s family members of Abhinandan’s  family   reached Baijnath to take his body and his pet to Pathankot. They said Alpha was now the only memory left of Abhinandan.

From Pathankot, Abhinandan and his friend Parnita Bala Sahib, from Pune, had gone to Billing, a popular tourist spot near Palampur, on Sunday afternoon by a car. Because of heavy snow, they left the car mid-way and moved on foot to reach Billing along with Alpha.

While returning to their base camp at Chogan near Bir, both slipped in heavy snow and fell into a deep gorge. They tried to come out of the gorge as indicated by footprints on snow, but couldn’t. Later, the severe cold and injuries, took its  toll.

A rescue team comprising the police and para-gliders found the dog sitting next to the bodies. The dog’s continuous howling showed its desperation and grief as if it hoped hoping the team would save its master.

Alpha, who too sustained injuries, survived and continued to guard the two bodies for 48 hours till Tuesday when the rescue team reached the spot.

“Around 7 pm, we got a call from the brother-in-law of the boy that he had not reached home. Rescue teams were constituted to search the area near Lambar Mod, where the bodies were later found,” said a police official.

“The duo was last spotted on a ridge by some other tourists. Two teams were sent on either side of the hill. Finally, their bodies were found with the German Shepherd dog sitting guard,” the official said.

***********************************************************************

Readers

These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.

Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world.  We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.

Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.

In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.

For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com