DogExpress
This is the story of four dogs, and while, like all dog stories, it is about love, devotion, and duty, it isn’t a happy one.
The four dogs have been a constant presence at Rajamalai in Kerala’s Idukki district, the site of a landslide that has claimed at least 45 lives. Two have been there for three days now, ever since the landslide on Friday. Local breeds, they are searching for their humans.
Some rescue workers tried to offer them food, but they seem to have no interest in that. Finally, some locals coaxed them into eating a few bites, said Muniyandi, a plantation worker who has been at the site of the landslide since Saturday.
In the early hours, a portion of the Pettimalai hills, near the hill-station Munnar, caved in, razing at least 30 houses of poor plantation workers, claiming at least 45 lives. At least 28, including the humans of the two dogs, are still missing.
“The pets’ plight has moved everyone. Whenever a body is extricated, they rush to the spot. Then they return to the shade under the rocks, waiting for the next,” said MJ Babu, a senior journalist from Munnar.
Some people tried to take the dogs, one black and the other grey, to their houses, but the canines have stood their ground.
Also on the site is Maya, a Belgian Malinois from Kerala Police who has helped discover at least six bodies under the rubble, and her colleague, Dona, a Labrador Retriever whose specialty is finding survivors (unfortunately, Dona has had little luck so far). Maya is still in training but has surprised even her handler P Prabhat.
Kerala’s director general of police Lokanth Behra, who had a brief stint with the National Investigation Agency before joining the post, said the canine squad has 150 trained dogs that are specialists in sniffing out bodies, explosives, gold and so on.
“ Maya has done wonders on her first assignment itself and she will be rewarded properly,” said the state police chief.
Source: Hindustan Time
Please Note: This article is not edited by DogExpress Team!
in Chandigarh, India. 
