Shimla – Video of a leopard attacking a dog in Shanan area of Malyana ward in Shimla city had gone viral on social media. The attack was recorded on CCTV. The footage was widely circulated on social media.

This four-minute-long video shows a leopard climbing up the stairs to enter a building to hunt down a pet dog that was sleeping right outside the door of a house. The incident had created slight panic in Shimla, and most of the viewers felt pity for the poor dog.

Miraculously, as it turns out, the dog survived the attack. Himachal Watcher talked to the owner and visited him to inquire about the dog’s health.

We learned that his name is Jackie – the adorable, playful Labrador was right with us – licking and cuddling us as we arrived. Jackie survived but received some deep wounds inflicted by the jaws and paws of the ferocious predator. What really amazed us was that no wounds or bruises anywhere on his neck.

Fortunately, Jackie did not let the leopard grip him by his neck, which is why he probably survived. Jackie is now active and is seen playing and chasing cats and birds as usual.

As to what happened and how he survived, we learned that Jackie was not sleeping outside the house of his owner. In fact, he was half-a-kilometres away from his home, sleeping outside the house of his owner’s relative. Though the owner has a dog house, Jackie is seldom kept chained since he loves to wander around in the locality.

Jackie roams about freely but remains close to either his owners or people he is acquainted with. On the night of October 10, he had come to the house of a relative of the owner and slept outside their door.

At about four in the morning of October 11, a leopard sneaked into the building and attacked Jackie. Curiously, the leopard managed to reach near Jackie within a minute, he remained still for the next three minutes, probably waiting for Jackie to lift his head as he was curled up like a ball.

Eventually, when the leopard pounced on Jackie, the two smashed against the door. Hearing the sound and cries of Jackie, the owner of the house woke up and opened the door immediately. The leopard couldn’t make the kill and tried to carry Jackie along but had to drop him as the person was quick to chase the two down the stairs.

The very moment Jackie got out of the clutches of the leopard; he ran half-a-kilometre to his owner’s house. By the time, Prakash (the owner) was informed, Jackie was right outside his house. Prakash noticed that Jackie was wounded and bleeding at places. Next morning, Prakash took him to a vet – Jackie is now receiving treatment and his wounds are healing.

“I had bought him as a pup for Rs 8000. He is very smart and adorable. It was his luck that he survived and I am glad he is still with us. My son is most attached to him. He takes care of him like a family member,”

Prakash told Himachal Watcher.

Leopard hunting stray dogs isn’t uncommon in Shimla, especially in localities adjacent to forest cover. Leopard sighting is also common. However, it is worrisome that these big cats have now begun to sneak into buildings. Somewhere, it’s an indication that human is intruding their habitat, thus, inviting such incidents upon himself.

The wild cats are still shy and reluctant to attack humans, but children remain vulnerable to such attacks.

One of the most debated topics about this incident was, how come the dog did not get the scent of the leopard despite the fact that it was standing real close to its head for over three minutes. Secondly, was the leopard really waiting for the dog to lift his head and expose his neck?