I never thought I would borrow Gerald Durrel’s book title for my article, since I am not an animal lover. I do not hate animals but at the same time it is not a passion for me. So I never ever imagined that my family would extend beyond human beings.

So where do the animals get entry in my life? It all started with Proudy. Proudy is a stray dog in our locality. He is one among many, but unique among them all. All the stray dogs in our area are taken care of by Shiva, a 15 year boy. All his pocket money is spent on feeding these dogs.

One day I noticed one big dog. He was moving around with the others but, he was not with them or one of them. He was a class apart. I started noticing him whenever I moved out. When I returned home from office he would be standing at the turning and would trot behind my vehicle to the house.

He would always stand at the gates. There was no wagging of tail, no barking, no demand, nothing! He would just stand there looking steadily at me. After a few ‘no-demand’ days, I offered him a piece of bread. He looked at it for a few seconds, smelt it but did not make any move to accept it. I stood there for few seconds, just then another dog came, snatched the piece of bread from my hands and ran away. There was no protest from Proudy.

Next day I gave him a piece of chapatti. This time also he looked at it for a few seconds, turned his head as if saying no, again smelt it and then accepted it as if he was doing me a great favour. This became our routine. If I was late in coming from office he would wait at the corner for some time and then disappear to suddenly make a surprise appearance on my arrival home. Even after feeding him for quite a few days, I never got a wag in return, forget about a lick as was given to me by my friend’s dogs. His attitude continues to be that of an aristocrat.

Our chapatti routine continued for a few days. The routine changed with arrival of two small puppies. One stray bitch gave birth to seven puppies. The male dogs were taken away by people as pets. Two female puppies remained behind. The dog lover lad in our area would try to take their care. But they were not getting sufficient milk.

By now I was getting involved in the whole situation. I decided to give milk to these puppies. As would be expected, the puppies welcomed it with their heart and soul, wags and barks and also with wet licks. Proudy would be a mute spectator to the feeding process. While I was giving milk to the puppies, I gave chapatti to Proudy. He looked at it, looked at me and walked away with an expression saying ‘You have really disappointed me, buddy!’

Next day, I put the saucer containing milk in front of Proudy first. He happily started licking it. The puppies not to be left behind pushed the big dog aside and started drinking milk themselves. There was absolutely no protest from Proudy. So I brought another saucer for Proudy. He calmly started drinking from it.

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