This was a friend I made at Bandhavgarh.

I was relaxing outside near my room at the resort in the afternoon while this female stray was hanging out nearby. She had settled near a crowd of people who seemed to have tolerated her presence. While I was reading a book the dog was suddenly attacked by another female, presumably out of fear for pups she was raising nearby. This poor dog was cornered and attacked, bitten in the leg. She made her way over to me and when the attacker followed I stepped in its way, preventing it from getting to the other dog. The attacker attempted numerous times to circumvent me, but she eventually saw it as a lost cause. She slowly walked away, occasionally checking to see if I was still there while the dog that was attacked was whimpering behind me.

It was probably unwise to come between two dogs in this way, but I often let emotion get the better of me. I checked on the dog that had been attacked and she was shaking. She didn't appear to be bleeding, but was quite frightened. She had laid down and was watching to see if the other female was going to come back. I pulled up a chair next to her and helped to keep watch as well. I read a book next to her and occasionally whispered words of reassurance while she slept. We spent a few hours together.

When the sun had set, I made my way back to my room. The dog I was with was clearly worried the other was going to come back and attack her again. I wanted to show her that things were okay so I walked in 20 ft increments to allow the dog to follow slowly and overcome her apprehension. When I got to my room, I stayed with her to make sure the other female was not around. When she was confident enough, she left and I went inside.

I hope I made her feel safe and cared for, if only for a few hours.

This was just one of the many stray dogs that are out there. One of the most heartbreaking parts of visiting India was seeing the astonishing number of strays – I must have seen 5 in my journeys that had died on the road after being hit by cars. It’s really difficult to fathom at such a scale...with such rampant poverty, animals suffer the injustices of inequality as well. Dogs may be man’s best friend, but often I doubt how much that means to them.

I would recommend anyone who is thinking of getting a pet to adopt from an animal shelter that takes in the animals that don’t have homes. There are so many creatures out there that need a kind soul and a forever home. Even though you might only be able to help one, that decision would mean the world to a dog like this one. For those with pets, please have them spayed or neutered to prevent unnecessary breeding.