Pet dog in Nepal refused to leave the spot where he used to live with his family even after flood washed away their home; it didn't abandon so bulldozers started to work around him

A pet dog in Nepal has refused to leave the spot where he used to live with his family, even after floodwaters washed away their home and three neighbouring houses. The black-and-white dog continues to sit at the same muddy patch where his home once stood, despite bulldozers and rescue workers clearing debris around him.

His collar is still intact, but his owners remain unaccounted for. As workers remove timber, silt and debris from the flood-hit site in Trishuli Bazaar, Nuwakot, the dog repeatedly returns to what was once the front entrance of one of the destroyed homes, according to The Times of India.

Dog refuses to move as JCBs clear debris

The dog has remained at the site even as nearly half a dozen JCBs operate nearby. Rescue workers said the heavy machinery, vehicles and constant movement of people have done little to make him leave the place he appears to recognise as his former home.


Relief worker Bikram Thapa told The Times of India that workers initially tried to coax him away with biscuits and common pet names.

But the dog barely reacted to their attempts. He did not wag his tail or turn towards the workers and continued sitting in the same spot.

“He won't leave this place,” Thapa told the newspaper.

Sunil Tamang, who has been involved in clearing the debris, said the dog remained calm even when heavy machinery moved only metres away.

“In the middle of all the heavy JCB engines and clearing operations, he just sits in that muddy pool,” Tamang told The Times of India.

The dog occasionally lifts his head when a vehicle approaches or people move through the debris, but once they pass, he settles back in the same place.

His former home has disappeared

The flood washed away a row of four houses in the neighbourhood, leaving behind mud, timber, silt and scattered remains of the structures.

The physical boundaries of the homes have largely disappeared, but the dog appears to remember where his own territory once ended.

Tamang said the dog repeatedly returns to the same former doorway and refuses to cross what used to be the boundary of his yard.

Nobody working at the site has been able to establish exactly which of the four homes belonged to the dog or where his owners are now.

However, his intact collar has led workers to believe he was a family pet rather than a stray.

Volunteers leave food and water

After repeated attempts to move the dog failed, volunteers stopped trying to force him away and began leaving food and water near his usual spot.

Community animal rescue volunteer Rita Gurung said the dog accepts the food, but usually only when the area becomes quiet.

“We keep leaving dry rations near him every few hours,” Gurung told the newspaper. “He only takes a bite when the road is quiet.”

The dog otherwise remains withdrawn, barely responding to strangers around him.

Displaced residents understand his wait

For people in the neighbourhood who also lost their homes, the dog's behaviour has become a poignant reminder of what the flood took away.

Displaced resident Maya Adhikari said most dogs in the area moved towards higher ground when the flood struck, but this dog stayed near the destroyed houses.

“This was his territory, his family's courtyard,” she said.

Local shopkeeper Dinesh Basyal said residents who had lost their own homes had started keeping an eye on the dog.

“We lost our homes, but we understand what happened,” Basyal said. “He doesn't understand why everyone disappeared — he just knows he isn't supposed to leave until they return.”

For now, the dog remains at the site of the destroyed homes, sitting where his family once lived as bulldozers continue clearing away the remains of the neighbourhood.