Thrissur: When a puppy lay bleeding by the roadside, pleading to end its misery, little Varadha was moved to tears.
She had seen the puppy playing on the road on her way to the Sandeepani Vidya Nikethan School in Kuttumukku. The puppy was probably hit by a speeding vehicle and left to bleed to death. Not knowing what to do or think, the little girl along with brother Vasudev ran back to their home at Thiruvambady in Thrissur.
When her mother, Sunitha tried to console her Vardha was inconsolable. The mother finally, went to the sitewith her daughter to witness the heart-wrenching scene. The puppy was still by the roadside, perhaps in a more miserable condition. It had lost considerable amount of blood.
They borrowed a sheet from a nearby house and took the puppy to a vet. The doctor, however, did not give them much hope and said the puppy would not survive. The duo then tried reaching out to an animal protection group, but their only advice was to abandon the puppy at some far away location.
Seeing Varadha's determination to save the little dog, the doctor offered help. He applied medicines on its wounds. "If it survives the night, its life can be saved. We'll look at further treatment after that," the doctor assured much to Varadha's relief.
That night Varadha could not sleep. The puppy woke up sometime late in the night and drank milk. It looked up at its rescuer with gratitude.
And that was beginning of a strong friendship.
Varadha gave a name to her new companion from the road - Ruby.
After the incident, both of them are inseparable. Now, it was Ruby's turn to wait for the little girl as she left for the school.
However, to ensure that she was nursed back to proper health Ruby was handed over to a dog trainer for a month.
Varadha went to meet Ruby after a month, only to find its affection undiminished. Ruby won back its companionship and was back at Varadha's home.
Ruby is also close to Varadha’s brother. Another dog, Bolt - the dash hound, too inhabits their home but it happily made room for Ruby when she arrived.
These incidents happened more than three years ago.
Heroes too
The girl and her dog once even helped nab a robber. They were on their regular evening stroll when they saw a man snatching a woman's chain and fleeing. The two of them were too startled to react.
They resumed their journey and reached the next street only to find the thief coming in the opposite direction. Barking, Ruby pounced on the thief who was completely taken back.
Varadha quickly told the onlookers about the thief and he was immediately apprehended and handed over to the police.
