News of Man Traveling Miles to Hug Dog Spreads Joy Till Pakistan
The Quint’s story of a man who traveled 500 kms to give Bhadra a hug has been shared across the globe.
Getting a hug has been a long pursuit for this 68-year-old man from Coimbatore.
Rewind to two years ago: Sadasivan was sitting in his living room in Coimbatore, reading about the horrific incident of a dog being thrown down from a roof by two medical students. The video affected him so much that he decided he had to see the animal. He carefully cut out every single article about the dog Bhadra from newspapers, and then began his search.
After 2 years, Sadasivan struck one thing off his bucket-list as he hugged the very happy and healthy Bhadra, who couldn’t stop wagging her tail.
This story was published by The Quint on 20 June 2018 and we have received a number of calls telling us how this has brought a big wide smile on people’s faces.
Antony Rubin, an animal activist who had helped rescue Bhadra, said, “So many people called me and told me how this definitely shows how there is love in the air. It was nice to know that such a horrific incident was not forgotten and this update actually made their day.”
Rubin received calls from Mumbai, Kolkata and even Pakistan!
The woman from Lahore had a message for Sadasivan:
People have even reached out offering help to take care of Bhadra.
So why is there so much interest in this particular dog? Let me tell you the story.
In July 2016, Bhadra was thrown off the roof by a medical student while his friend filmed it. The video of the cruelty went viral, and while the dog was initially feared dead, she was later found alive. Bhadra was reported to have suffered two spinal fractures, making her limp while she walked. The men who threw her were suspended from college. They were arrested by the police, but released on bail soon after.
A year back when he visited Chennai, Sadasivan went to the Kundrathur police station to get more information, as the incident had taken place in that area. However, they didn’t have much to tell him.
Being a retired police officer with over 15 years of experience, he decided to put his investigation skills back to use.
Sadasivan figured that the route to Bhadra was through her caretakers. Antony Rubin and a few other animal activists had rescued the dog and given her a new home.
Karthik Dhandapani, long-time Blue Cross volunteer, and his mother had taken Bhadra under their care.
After a few trips to the police station and the post office, Sadasivan finally zeroed in on Rubin’s address. He knocked on his door to find an unassuming Rubin who was trying to figure out whether this man’s request was real.
Well, this isn’t the first time Sadasivan has gone on such a conquest.
Some time back when he read about a 22-year-old Dalit man, Shankar, who was hacked to death in broad daylight for marrying a woman from the Thevar community, Sadasivan went to Udumalpet to meet the widow.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)