An eight-month-old abandoned Labrador puppy has found a perfect home at Perambur railway station, and become the best friend to the police there.
‘Bharathi,’ as the police have named the dog, now acts as a good watchdog and responds to the commands of the police personnel. She has even started helping them check the train compartments for criminal elements.
S. Sekar, inspector, government railway police (GRP), Perambur, said two months ago, late in the night, he received a call from his station about a dog found abandoned at Perambur railway station.
He asked his men to keep it at the station and take care of it. The next morning, he went to check on the puppy and found it to be very friendly. Soon, Mr. Sekar began taking it along during routine checks and monitoring operations. Before training it, the police authorities checked with animal welfare organisations if they had received any complaints of a missing puppy.
Mr. Sekar said: “If there was a complaint or description matching that of the rescued puppy’s, we’d decided to return it to its owner. However, we were informed no such complaints were made.”
Bharathi is very docile and obedient. Mr. Sekar has trained her to follow simple commands, which it has learnt without much difficulty. Now, the puppy obeys commands to sit, stand and check.
Mr. Sekar said he shares a portion of his food with the puppy. “No special diet is provided to Bharathi. I spend about Rs. 60 a day on her food,” he said.
GRP officers brought in a veterinarian to check the health condition of the puppy and administer the required vaccinations. Now, Bharathi accompanies GRP personnel, whenever they go on night rounds.
“When the dog is with me during checks, I feel more confident. At the same time, it creates a kind of fear among criminals,” said an officer.