Pintu: A Heartbreak

The dog we're currently petting was born in our house, along with six other siblings, by his mother. She unexpectedly came to our house one random night and started settling in. Maybe she was looking for a place to stay, and she chose ours. She was friendly and we named her Pintu.

It's often said that female dogs exhibit greater loyalty towards their home and owners. We took good care of her. At the time, I was in 5th or 6th grade, and it was then that I began to develop a feeling for dogs. She gave birth right beside our house, which was convenient as there was a good spot for her to deliver the puppies – an old bed that provided warmth. When I first saw the litter of seven, they were smaller than average mice. Over the course of about two months, they grew, developed fur, opened their eyes, and came out of the bed. Realizing that it would be impossible for anyone to take care for all eight of them, Sabin, the owner of the attached house, decided to remove the bed and clean the area. We had a bench underneath was a small warm spot for her to live, which my dad had designed for himself to enjoy coffee, admiring the garden view. All eight puppies began to reside under that bench. For a month, we took care of them all. These black and white pups began to explore the house garden, and even came indoors. They developed a good habit of going far away from the house to poop, from their mother (Pintu). Among them, there were three males and four females. Unfortunately, being born female meant there was no hope of them finding adoptive homes.

One dark day, the decision was made to move all of them. It was a rainy night, and as I held the light and umbrella, Sabin dai carried the box containing the seven puppies. Meanwhile, Dai, who lived in the neighbouring rented house, tied the rope to Pintu. Together, we went towards the jungle to release them. Lightning and the rain poured down relentlessly, creating a scene that now feels of a movie. We traveled about 4 km's away from home into the jungle, where we unboxed the pups and unleashed the mother. My last glimpse of them was seeing those tiny puppies coming out from the box into the rain, scattering around the area in that dark rainy night. The mother looked at me with a sense of helplessness, I still remember vividly. Deciding to return home from a different route, each step heavier than the last, stumbling along the way. The rain fell relentlessly, as if the sky itself was shedding tears of pain. Pintu followed us along the jungle road, but we threw stones at her to prevent her from following us further.

That day, we left a mother stranded alone in the jungle with her seven little innocent puppies, who were scattering from the box. She never imagined such a fate for her family. Whom to handle? My owners are going a different way, my kids are scattered in a jungle on a dark, rainy night. Helpless and scared of other animals.

Who would've guessed that same night, Pintu would bring those kids back home? She grabbed the puppies by their neck and carried them all the way to our house. She managed to carry four of them through the night. At one point, she left one about two-thirds of the way home, then went back for the others, one by one. The next morning, we learned from my sister that one of the males had been adopted by her friend, who lived near the area where they were left. The other four puppies made it back home. We were amazed and didn't know what to do next after witnessing such an incredible feat of love and determination.

All of them used to reside under our bench, and one night, there was an attack by jackals. I could hear Pintu's cries from inside, but I was too small to fight out, and it seemed too dangerous. Little did I know, it was a jackal attack. The next morning, we found all the others dead, except for the mother, Pintu, and the current dog we own. The jackals had eaten the bodies of the small pups, leaving only their heads behind. I suspect the others were also killed by jackals. Fortunately, Pintu 2 (our current dog) survived. It had hidden under a few iron window frames that were kept in the neighbouring house, as they were doing some construction. I still remember seeing Pintu 2 there, beside those steel bars, staying up all night.

From 8 down to just 2. We made the decision to keep the surviving one, whom we named after his mother. In this story, I have called him Pintu 2, which is our current dog. He received all the love and care, milk from his mother, and he grew up to be a beautiful and healthy dog.
Pintu helped his mother overcome the dark memories of her six other children and the difficult phase she had gone through.

One day, the mother fell ill, and it was truly terrible, I mean, very dreadful. It was a few months after she had gone through those darkest times of her life. She developed a strange wound in her ear region, which spread all over her body. The smell was so strong that we could detect it from the road when she came home to feed the baby. Insects covered her body. Now, my mother wasn't much of a pet lover. She wouldn't allow the mother dog inside the house because she feared it would transfer the wound and insects to Pintu 2, and the whole house would get infected and so did I. I could see the pain but I was helpless. To ease her suffering, we even gave her poison mixed with milk. It was painful to witness others throwing kerosene at her. I could see her crying day and night for nearly a month ++, crying until her last breath. After one or two months, she passed away far from home. She never returned to our house after we stopped letting her in those first few times.
She didn't want to burden us with the difficulty of handling her death. Oh dear, how deeply I feel sorry for your pain, my love.

We didn't know where you came from, and we didn't know where you went. I hope we did right for your soul by taking care of Pintu so well. I'm deeply sorry, and I ask for your forgiveness, all of us. All those things we did were so hard on you. Remembering you now, we have Pintu in our house, we've given him the same name, he is a living reminder of your presence, a part of you.

The picture above is of Pintu, who has braved through it all and truly deserves all the love and happiness in the world. <3 💛❤️