NAGPUR: Around six years back, ‘Lucky’ saved the lives of 12 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at Kokrajhar, a town in Assam, by sniffing out an improvised explosive device which was buried underground by insurgents. Later, serving the battalion based in Baramulla, Kashmir, Lucky, with his heroic deeds and dutiful attribute, was always held in high regard among the servicemen, with senior officials even touching his feet often.
For over ten years, ‘Lucky’ served the battalion. “He has been a true military man – disciplined and very sharp when it came to detecting explosives or firearms. There was no one like him,” says a source in the know of things.
In February this year, ‘Lucky’ retired with grace but with no certainty.
The ten-and-a-half- year old Labrador had nowhere to go to. “For few months, it was kept in the room of dog squads in Kashmir. However, instructions were given to his handler to shift him to make space for new dogs,” the source tells.
TOI learnt that the ‘Lucky’ was brought to the hometown of his handler in Saoner, a town near Nagpur. “Lucky’s handler was trying to shift it to a dog shelter based in Mumbai but the necessary arrangements could not be made. When the activists from there informed me about him, I decided to bring the dog to Nagpur,” says local animal welfare activist Karishma Galani.
On seeing Lucky’s deteriorating health, Galani admitted it to a hospital run by Ajay Maheshwari, founder of Nagpur-based Maheshwari Animal Welfare Foundation (MAWF), where he is currently being treated. “Sniffer dogs undergo intense training from a young age to smell detectives and other explosives. This damages various organs of their body. Lucky was about three months old when he joined the CRPF,” says Galani.
Stating that the animal did not eat for few days, Maheshwari says, “After living at a place for over ten years, coming here has been a big change for him. He is recovering though.”
While the activists are “more than happy” to take care of Lucky, they express deep disappointment to the fact that despite serving the country, such dogs are left to die. “There are so many like Lucky who are at no one’s mercy. Their skills and services are used for the country’s welfare for years but they get nothing in return—no pension, no shelter house, no food and no treatment,” they say, demanding that the government should set-up shelter houses for retired dogs.
In 2017, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court took sou motu cognizance of TOI reports exposing the absence of measures for rehabilitation of canines serving in the bomb disposal and detection units. Citing the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the appointed amicus had stated that laws concerning prevention of cruelty to animals don’t take in to consideration welfare of animals serving in the forces.
