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Dog Dies While Fighting A Tiger – Indian Dog Owner Is Alive Because His Dog Sacrificed Himself To Save Him

By Alap Naik Desai
Published on: 23:10 PST, Jun 6, 2016

An Indian dog took on a tiger and paid the ultimate price. He fought off an attack by the beast to protect his owner.

In a classic example that loyalty and heroism, a dog in India stood in between his sleeping master and a tiger. The brave dog sacrificed himself but protected his owner. The incident took place in a remote village in Northern India. The dog is being hailed as a hero and was buried with full honors.

Farmer Gurdev Singh staying in Barbatpur in Uttar Pradesh’s Sharanpur district is alive today because of his dog, Jacky. While the farmer slept peacefully outside his house, his beloved pet lay by his bedside. Sing’s village sits very close to the Dudhwa National Park, which is famous for its wildlife, including a multitude of carnivores that roam freely in the forest of South Kheri, which is part of the park.

While the farmer slept after a hard day’s work, his dog Jacky relaxed beside him. In the middle of the night, the dog sensed a tiger approaching and quickly jumped to his feet. Initially, four-year-old Jacky tried to make his master wake up, reported India.

Unfortunately, the barking of dogs is a pretty common phenomenon in India. These alert canines raise a ruckus even if they find a person walking past their house or the cattle stirring in the barn. Hence people tend to ignore them. Even Singh ignored Jacky’s incessant barking for some time, but he eventually gave in and rose groggily to investigate. But it was too late by then.

While the sleepy farmer was stumbling to his feet, the tiger attacked. However, even before Singh could get his defenses up, his loyal dog leaped forward and took on the beast himself. This gave the farmer just enough time to grab a stick, raise the alarm, and prepare to defend himself, reported Times of India. Frightened, the farmer began shouting and alerted the neighbors, who quickly responded to his calls for help.

But before the farmer’s relatives and neighbors could reach, the tiger had severely mauled the dog and dragged poor Jacky, who was gravely injured in his fight, into the tall grass. After the relatives gathered, they began a frantic search for the brave canine in the dead of the night. While the villagers alerted the forest officials to the presence of a tiger, the family members discovered the lifeless body of Jacky. At the break of dawn, the family buried the heroic dog with all the honors reserved for a respected family member. Speaking about the dog who protected his owner without caring for his own life, the farmer said,

“Jacky’s mother was a street dog and my children, Supreet and Gulshanpreet, took it in four years ago as a pup. It was a part of our family and used to follow them to school. Gulshanpreet is inconsolable and didn’t eat for a day. Jacky returned the favor of a few chapatis a day by giving up its life. I wish humans could learn from it how to love others and show devotion.”

When queried about the incident, forest officials noted they are helpless because of increasing encroachment on the forest land by human settlements. They added that the forest area is being heavily segmented because of aggressive conversion into farmland. The entry of a tiger in a village is not surprising, said forest ranger S. N. Yadav. “The population of big cats in this part of the forest is very high and they sometimes come out looking for food,” he added.

Faithful and loyal dogs like Jacky have always placed themselves firmly between lurking danger and their owners.

[Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images]

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