This 68-year-old man travelled 500 km to hug the dog that was thrown off a roof
68-year-old Sadasivan, a retired police officer, travelled from Coimbatore to Chennai to meet and hug Bhadra, the dog who was flung from a terrace and suffered 2 spinal fractures.
In July 2016, when a medical student threw a dog, Bhadra, from a rooftop, his friend stood beside him, filming the incident. The video went viral on social media, and the public lashed out at the students. They were eventually suspended, arrested, and released on bail; the dog, meanwhile, survived the incident with two spinal fractures.
While this incident outraged a lot of people, Karthik Dhandapani, a volunteer with Blue Cross, and his family were the only ones who came forward to shelter the dog. Almost two years after the incident, Bhadra found new arms to hug her - a 68-year-old retired police officer traveled 500 km just to meet her.
On learning about the dog, Sadashivan, a retired officer who has served for about 15 years, visited the Kundrathur police station in Chennai to know more. The authorities at the station did not have much information about the dog's whereabouts, which prompted Sadashivan to do his own investigation. In an interview with The Quint, he said:
“I felt bad for Bhadra. It was, after all, a poor voiceless animal and I couldn’t imagine the trauma it went through. It really affected me.”
He reached out to a couple of animal rescuers and activists; that is when he bumped into Antony Rubin, the man who had rescued Bhadra. And finally at 8.30 pm on June 18, Sadashivan met Bhadra. This gesture by the retired policeman has won several hearts, the foremost being Bhadra's, Karthik Dhandapani, Bhadra’s caretaker said, “I was very touched to meet this old man who had come all the way to meet her. It was sweet to know that Bhadra was not forgotten in a few months and how much her story has affected people far and wide. It was heart-warming to see how much people care for animals.”
Bhadra is now is a 6 years and 6 months old and has recovered from the mishap, says a Huffington Post report.
This is not the first time Sadasivan has gone on a trip with a purpose. On reading about Shankar, a 22-year-old Dalit man who was hacked to death in daylight for marrying a woman from the Thevar community, Sadasivan went all the way to Udumalpet to meet the widow.
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