Tyson died a hero making the supreme sacrifice to protect his owner’s family from a venomous snake.
The one and half year-old Dalmatian wrestled with a cobra that was trying to slither into the house of Amin Shariff at Ramachandra Bazaar in Jatni on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar late Monday night and killed the snake. But, he himself succumbed to the snake bite, leaving the Shariff family to mourn the loss of the devoted “selfless angel”.
The incident took place at around 2 am when Amin woke up to Tyson’s frenzied barking. He rushed to open the gate and found that his pet was fighting with a venomous Indian cobra. After a few minutes of furious battle, Tyson succeeded in killing the deadly snake.
However, the joy was short-lived as the dog collapsed on the floor. Amin checked Tyson for snake bites and discovered injury on his tail and face.
He immediately tried to contact veterinary care but failed. He also called the snake helpline which advised the family to rush the dog to veterinary care. But all efforts went in vain as no vet could be contacted at that time.
The inability to arrange timely medical help for Tyson is haunting the family as they grieve his death. “He laid down his life to protect us. It breaks our heart to even think that he could have been saved, if prompt medical care was given.
We live in the Capital City of the State which sadly lacks basic veterinary services for animals. I tried to contact veterinary doctors at OUAT but no one was available. The private veterinary doctors also didn’t pick our calls,” Amin lamented.
‘The tragedy suffered by our family should be an eye-opener for all. The Government should ensure round-the-clock veterinary care services for animals,” he stated. Secretary of Snake Helpline Suvendhu Mallick, who identified the snake as cobra, agreed. “The incident in which a pet dog put a brave fight against a poisonous snake and protected its family, but died for not getting any treatment, exposes the sorry state of veterinary care in the State,” he said.
Source: https://siamtoo.com/2682/