For the last 10 years this street dog was the leader of the pack around our temple. He controlled the area from our temple out into the street and down to the main cross road. Under him there were always 5 or 6 other dogs that obeyed his orders and protected their territory in the street. He was an extremely ferocious fighter, and because of the way he would fearlessly fight, all the other dogs feared him and respected him, even those from the other packs further away.

He was not like other dogs. He never tried to befriend humans, and didn’t care to be around them. He wasn’t one of those dogs that wagged his tail for you or wanted to be petted, in fact no human could even touch him.

Every morning as soon as our temple gates would open he would come to the temple, and spend most of the day sleeping on the verandah of the temple hall. In the evenings he would again go back out into the street to protect his territory throughout the night with the rest of his pack. Over his 10 years, nearly every day he would eat some prasadam from the temple, and then go rest on the temple verandah.

One year ago a new liter of puppies grew up in our area, who did not know who he was or have the respect that other dogs of the area had for him. During one of their interactions with this old dog, he had barked agressively at them, as was his nature, and in response they all attacked him at once, with 5 dogs biting him from all sides. The old father dog, who by now had become a bit weak, was injured and had to leave the area. He went far away and we didn’t see him again for a long time. We felt sad to see that the dog who had slept on our temple verandah every day for 10 years had been banished by the younger set of dogs, but there was nothing we could do. Now that they were enemies, if he ever tried to return they would attack him.

Six months later we came across him living outside of a Muslim burial ground about 1 km from our temple. We were happy to see him, but sad that he was staying alone so far away. He recognized us and wagged his tail when we approached him even though he would not wag his tail for anyone. He had become thin and didn’t look like the strong dog we had known for 10 years.

When we came back to our temple we prayed to Lord Jagannatha, “This dog has lived at your temple every day for 10 years, but now due to some infighting among the other dogs he has been forced to go away in his old age. Please don’t let him die all alone on the street. Somehow arrange that when he dies he will come back here so we can bury him properly with your prasadam flowers and tulasi.”

Another six months passed and we didn’t see him again utill two days ago. We found him outside our temple gate unable to walk, and looking completely skinny, with only his bones showing. I could understand that his time was over and he had returned to the temple to leave his body as we had requested to Lord Jagannatha. He had been gone for 1 year, but somehow knew to return to our temple when it was time to leave his body.

I picked him up and brought him inside and arranged a place for him to sleep. We tried to feed him food and water, but he was not interested to eat anything. We kept Lord Jagannatha’s flowers by his head, and played the recording of Srila Prabhupada chanting Hare Krishna maha mantra nonstop. We fed him charanamrita water from Lord Jagannatha through a syringe into his mouth. For two days he remained there listening to Srila Prabhupada chant Hare Krishna, and then this morning he left his body peacefully at the temple, just exactly as we had prayed to Lord Jagannatha to arrange. After he had died, we dug a pit in our temple garden, and burried him after covering his body with sacred yajna vibhuti and flowers from Lord Jagannatha.

Over the years we had treated this dog for many injuries that had occured in various fights he had gotten into. We also treated him when he was ran over by a car, which left him with only three working legs for the rest of his life. Even in that situation he continued hopping around ferociously fighting outside dogs on only three legs. We had never seen him lose a fight until the day he was overpowered by five younger dogs and banished.

Despite being feriocious, he also would not bite any dog that surrendered. We had seen many times when another dog would surrender and fall on their back, he would stop fighting and let them leave. Even among dogs there are those who follow such codes of honor.

We thank Lord Jagannatha for fulfilling our prayer and bringing the old father dog back to our temple in his last days so that he could leave his body in an auspicious setting surrounded by people who cared for him. Many of these animals who associate with temples are not ordinary souls. Sometimes they are fallen yogis or devotees, who have some little bit of karma left, and burn it off in the body of an animal while staying at a temple or holy place. This is one of many reasons why we should always show respect to all living entities no matter how insignificant they may appear to us. In front of Bhagavan all living entities are equal, and he will shower his grace on all regardless of their particular birth.

Every cow and calf at our sanctuary has a story of rescue, healing, and hope. Your generous support provides them with food, shelter, medical care, and a lifetime of protection. Together, we can give these sacred animals the love and safety they deserve.