A seven-day-old baby in Purulia district in West Bengal, is alive today because four stray dogs sat around her and chased crows away when she was left abandoned on the road, reported The Times of India.

On Saturday, schoolteacher Ulhas Chowdhury heard a child's cry near his area of residence at Pathardi Para. On inspection, he saw that the dogs were sitting around a baby and guarding her. Chowdhury then called other locals who took the baby in and fed her milk.

Once the cops were informed, they took custody of the newborn and took her to Deben Mahato Sadar Hospital. "Though she has signs of jaundice, there is nothing to fear," Dr Shibshankar Mahato told the daily.

Chowdhury named the baby Sania. District co-ordinator of the Child Helpline, Dipankar Sarkar said that Sania will be taken to a state-run home-cum-adoption centre at Bhatbandh, once she is released from the hospital.

"Had it not been for the dogs, we would probably have lost the baby. We are all grateful to them," Chowdhury told the daily.