At first, the dog looked ferocious, jet black and heavy tied to a thick rope. Dogs mostly tied to chain become ferocious and pugnacious. Their loyalty and allegiance rest with only those who feed them. For the past two years this dog was always tied to the chain and the spot where it was chained obstructed my passage to the wild. But I realized that the dog meant no harm after initial few days of barking it would not even notice my passing by. This year however it was abandoned by the owner. The result was the dog was not part of any group, a free agent in the village. I saw it often at my door early in the morning beseeching for the leftover from the previous evening. Clearly his regular replenishment from his owner was not forthcoming so now he has to fend for himself. The dog being free-agent not part of any pack was always on attack by lesser dogs of the village but greater in number. In spite of formidable size and dark appearance the dog was quite friendly and non-aggressive. It had problem dealing with village packs always chasing him off. Even at the temple we would have to shoo away the vagabonds pestering him.
This winter when I was in village, the dog was not there. It was mortally injured by the village pack, eventually succumbed to injuries or may be became victim of wild cats. No one knows what happened to that friendly dog.
