By Azam Siddiqui Jimmy is an eight year old Indian dog who stray with his guardian family, the Thapas on a hill in the suburbs of Guwahati city. Guwahati is a city that was rich in urban wildlife. Most of this urban wildlife has been wiped out due to land grabbing and encroachment activities that have been happening for several years now, resulting in a sharp increase of conflicts between humans and the big cats. The Thapa family, unaware of the risk brought a piece of land on a hillock and raised their hut along with their companion dogs Jimmy and Rocky. Both Jimmy and Rocky would love to trek and explore the surrounding hills and keep track of any intruders, specially the big cats. Bahadur Thapa, Jimmy’s guardian says that leopards used to be commonly sighted in the area and on a few occasions he has even seen tigers in the area.
It was in the year 2003, on a winter night. The family had supper, so did Jimmy and Rocky. Later that night, Bahadur Thapa and his family members woke up to the sound of the dogs barking. When the family came out they could not believe what they saw. The dogs were barking at a leopard in their yard ad were trying to chase him away. When the family raised an alarm, the leopard got frightened and disappeared in the jungle above, but only to be chased by an angry young dog, Jimmy. The darkness didn’t bother Jimmy and he went deep inside the forest. What followed then was a deadly ordeal. Sometime later, Jimmy returned back to his master with a blood spattered face. Bleeding from his face, ears and eyes. Jimmy lost both his eyes and ruptured his ear severely. “He’s a brave dog and fast like ligtning,” said Bahadur Thapa’s mother said, “It’s amazing what an animal will do in a time of need. He’s a pretty brave dog”.
Bahadur Thapa’s family despite being less privileged managed to get some immediate veterinary aid for Jimmy who has always been a member of their family. Three years since the event, the wound on his ear has healed though the shape of his ears has changed completely and despite being completely visually challenged, Jimmy is able to roam around in his Master’s campus quite independently. His barks and growls are enough to drive away any big cat even now. He greets every stranger with a lot of curiosity, comes close to them, sits besides them and loves to be patted. I got the privilege of meeting Jimmy a few week age. It is first that I came face to face with a real life unsung hero. I am hoping to take with me some qualified vets to see Jimmy soon, but having said that it is sad that such unsung heroes do not get rewarded or acknowledged by any agency here in India even in this age… Had Jimmy been a human child, his actions would have qualified him for the Hon’ble President’s Bravery Award, but then he is just a Man’s best friend and not a Man.
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Azam Siddiqui is an animal activist associated as Master Trainer in Animal Welfare with Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and he is a Video Journalist with NDTV. He has been involved advocating animal right issues since past ten years in Assam & close associate of PAWS-Mumbai founder Sunish Subramanian
By Azam Siddiqui