Opinion

Where did humanity go wrong? The true story of one of God’s most beautiful creatures

A chance encounter with a street dog became an unexpected lesson in trust, love and loss

October 3, 2026

He trusted humans. Then they took him away

The year was 2025. It was a hot July when I saw him for the first time. He was watching people walking by; not too many people noticed him. Those who did either walked around him or shooed him away. No one saw him as a creature that needed love and food. They were programmed to believe these creatures were violent and needed to be kept at a distance.

My wife and I had just landed a couple of days prior, and I was walking on the sidewalk early one morning. This creature looked at me and was scared. Would I shoo him away? He probably thought. I looked at him and saw a beautiful creature, not a dog. I decided to take a walk every day down the same route and would walk past him. I didn’t walk around him, nor did I shoo him away. At some point, he got comfortable with me and would wag his bushy tail. I had his confidence.

There was a store about 50 feet away from where we were staying. I bought a packet of cookies and two buns the next morning and headed out for my walk. From a distance, I saw him. He was sitting at his usual spot, staring at no one in particular and yet the most observant on that street. I kept walking and came close to him. I took the cookies and kept one close to him. He wagged his tail and, after a few moments, walked to the cookie. After sniffing it for a bit, he finally ate it. I offered him another cookie, which he hesitantly took and then ate. Feeding him too many of those would probably not be a good thing, so I offered him the buns. He ate them too. Unlike his human counterparts, there was no attitude. When I touched his head, there was no flinching nor growling. He shook his bushy tail in gratitude.

He started following me back to our apartment. The security guard was about to shoo him away till I told him to let the canine baby stay. Later that evening, I went down to find him sitting across the road. When he saw me, he came wagging his tail. I had brought him a few slices of bread and a bowl of water. After consuming the bread and getting a drink of water, he sat there while I looked around. When I headed back up, he understood and went back to sit across the street.

This would continue for the next one week. We would go for walks together, him a few feet behind but always there.

We were scheduled to go to a temple about 60 kilometres from home that morning. After feeding him and making sure he had water, we left. Later that evening, we returned home to find he wasn’t there. I had a premonition that something was wrong, but I called the security guard and asked him. What I heard made my blood go cold and boil at the same time. One of the neighbours had called the municipal dog catchers, who had come and taken him. Finding him would be impossible. The neighbour came and tried to convince me that this gentle baby had attacked his teenage son and had to call the municipality to get him taken away.

When I went back upstairs, I was very angry and sad at the same time. My wife was also shocked and was weeping. There was nothing we could do as we were there only for a few more days. The next few days had me walking in the morning, looking around, hoping against hope that he was still alive. That wasn’t to be.

My wife and I left India, our collective hearts broken. If only we had known that there are more heartless people in Bengaluru than we had imagined, I would not have brought him near my apartment.

In my broken heart, I asked myself the question: where did humanity, and humane treatment of these wonderful creatures, go? All I could say to myself was that wonderful creature had more heart than we as humans do.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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