One dog Five homes

I have a fear of dogs and generally don’t like pets, as you might know if you were my close friend. This is the story of a stray dog that lives in and around my home, though it’s not our pet.

There are five homes in our colony. A few days before the lockdown, our neighbors bought a small puppy. It stayed in their house for some time, but during the COVID-19 lockdown, the government imposed restrictions. During this period, they abandoned the puppy on the street, believing it was unsafe to keep it. However, no matter where they left it, the puppy kept returning to our colony.

During the lockdown, the puppy roamed freely in our colony, and everyone started feeding it. It grew quickly and became familiar with every person in the area. It barks at every stranger who enters our colony, which annoys some people. One day, someone threw a stone at the dog, hitting its leg. Though it wasn’t seriously injured, it has been unable to walk properly since then.

The dog often enters everyone’s compound, behaving as if all of us are its owners. It even accompanies people on their walks. I never imagined a dog could become such a part of our community, but this stray dog changed everything. Even though it’s not ours, we feel like it belongs to us. There’s always a portion of our snacks and meals set aside for it.

P.S. Despite growing close to this dog, I’ve never touched or pampered it, and my fear of dogs remains unchanged.