“Her senses made her aware of sounds of heavy breathing and collapse despite not being inside the house. Without her timely warning, people would have known too late.”

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A dog is a man’s best friend they say. But for Ramesh Sancheti, a Pune-based doctor, a dog he fostered, saved his life!

Sixteen years ago, Dr Sancheti came across a tiny female puppy in his housing society.

Since then, he has been taking care of the canine, along with Amit Shah, another animal lover who resides on the first floor of the same building. The duo named the pup Brownie.

Today, Brownie is old and weak, but her senses are sharp as ever.

On Wednesday 23 January 2019, when 65-year-old Sancheti suffered a partial paralytic attack and a minor cardiac arrest, Brownie came to his rescue.

Shah feeds Brownie around 12.30 pm every day. On Wednesday, when he stepped out to do that, he saw her behaving in a peculiar manner.

She was unusually restless, crying softly, and also refused to eat the food that she usually gobbles up.

Speaking to the Pune Mirror, he said, “She kept raising [herself] up with difficulty and placing her front legs on the window, looking inside. Initially, I was quite confused, but when I went nearer, a gap in the window revealed to me that the doctor had collapsed on the floor.”

As soon as Shah saw what had happened, he broke open the door lock, called the neighbours, and rushed Dr Sancheti to a nearby hospital.

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“Her senses made her aware of sounds of heavy breathing and [Sancheti’s] collapse despite not being inside the house,” Shah explains, adding that “Canines also have an extremely advanced sense of smell. All credit goes to her loyalty. Without her timely warning, people would have known too late. The precious time needed for urgent treatment to save his life would have been lost.”

None of Dr Sancheti’s next of kin was around. And although we don’t know the exact time of his cardiac arrest, it is obvious that any further delay could have resulted in something much more serious.

“I live in Bavdhan (about 10 km from Dr Sancheti’s house) for professional reasons, and my mother was out of town on Wednesday. It was only the dog who alerted Shah and saved my father’s life,” Amit Sancheti tells the Pune Mirror.

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Shah, who runs an NGO for visually impaired and specially-abled dogs told the publication that it was Dr Sancheti who helped Brownie recover from a terrible ailment when she was about 14 years old.

“[About] two years ago, her health was critical after suffering from kidney ailments. After her treatment, the Sanchetis took special care of Brownie, helping her recover from a 50 per cent kidney failure,” he says.

Dr Sancheti is currently admitted in an ICU, and we wish him a speedy recovery.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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