Injured in line of duty, army dog Zoom dies

The young Belgian Malinois helped soldiers kill two wanted terrorists - Asif Ah Rishi and Wakeel Ah Bhat - in an operation, codenamed Tangpawa, near Anantnag before the front-line canine hero was shot at twice.

An Indian Army assault dog who fought honourably and took bullets during a fierce encounter with terrorists in Kashmir on October 10 died of his wounds at a veterinary facility in Srinagar on Thursday, with the army hailing the two-year-old Zoom as a hero, and commending his service to the country.

Zoom joins a growing list of the army’s four-legged warriors who have made the ultimate sacrifice fighting alongside infantry soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir and India’s North-east where the army carries out hundreds of anti-terror operations every day. (HT)

The young Belgian Malinois helped soldiers kill two wanted terrorists - Asif Ah Rishi and Wakeel Ah Bhat - in an operation, codenamed Tangpawa, near Anantnag before the front-line canine hero was shot at twice, and some of the army’s best veterinary surgeons at the Srinagar-based 54 Advance Field Veterinary Hospital tried their best to save him, officers familiar with the matter said.

In the last 72 hours, the army variously described Zoom as “brave fighter,” “valiant” and “real hero” for his uncommon courage and heroism during the intense firefight that ended with the killing of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists who were infamous for targeting civilians and had been on the army’s radar for several months.

Zoom joins a growing list of the army’s four-legged warriors who have made the ultimate sacrifice fighting alongside infantry soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir and India’s North-east where the army carries out hundreds of anti-terror operations every day.

“#ArmyCdrNC (Army Commander, Northern Command) condoles the death of Assault Dog ‘Zoom’. Injured in line of duty in operation at Tangpawa #Ananatnag, he finally breathed the last on 13 October 2022. A real hero in service to the #Nation,” the Udhampur-based Northern Command wrote on Twitter. The command is the nerve centre of counter-terror operations in J&K.

The army highlighted Zoom’s role in the October 10 operation in a statement. It said the brave canine, who joined an army dog unit barely eight months ago, was sent into the ‘target house,’ where the hardcore terrorists were hiding, to force them to abandon their cover and retrieve their weapons.

“Zoom approached the target stealthily and pounced upon the terrorists. Zoom was fired upon by the terrorists in hiding, thereby injuring him seriously. However, he was successful in destabilising the terrorists, who were then effectively neutralised by the precision fire of the troops,” the army said on October 10.

Zoom undertook the mission even as the Lashkar duo was targeting the soldiers with automatic weapons and grenades in a desperate attempt to break the cordon and give the counterterror squad the slip. Two soldiers suffered gunshot wounds during the operation that was launched at the crack of dawn.

Zoom is likely to be mentioned in dispatches - the highest honour a four-legged warrior can get in military service in India - for his heroism, said one of the officers cited above asking not to be named.

The assault dog has captured popular imagination months after another canine hero, Axel, was killed in a counterterror operation in Kashmir and was later among the soldiers mentioned in dispatches by President Droupadi Murmu on Independence Day.

Army dogs have been regularly recognised for their valour and devotion to duty with commendation cards awarded by the army chief and army commanders – the canines have tracked down hardcore terrorists, sniffed out deadly explosives, helped in search and rescue, and saved scores of lives, said a second officer, who also asked not to be named.

Bajaj, another army dog, was among the 408 soldiers honoured with the army chief’s commendation card for their service on Independence Day, 2022.

The names and unique service numbers of decorated dogs are put up on roll-of-honour boards at army dog units.

Army dogs are trained for a variety of roles such as detecting mines and explosives, tracking, assault, infantry patrol, and search and rescue.

Labradors, German Shepherds and Belgian Shepherds (Malinois) are the mainstay of the army’s canine work force. Some Mudhol Hounds (an indigenous dog breed from Karnataka) and Cocker Spaniels have also been introduced on a trial basis for explosives detection.

The role of dogs in combat was summed by General David P Petraeus more than a decade ago when he was the commander of the US forces in Afghanistan. He had then said that the capability that military dogs bring to the fight cannot be replicated by “man or machine.”

Around three years ago, the army was planning to set up a war memorial dedicated to service animals - mostly dogs, but also horses and mules. The fate of the project is not clear at this stage. The memorial was planned at the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) Centre and College in Meerut where the army breeds, rears, and trains dogs, mules and horses. The army has more than 1,000 dogs, 5,000 mules and 1,500 horses, the officials said.

The RVC pioneered war dog training in India in the late 1950s.

Recognising the contribution of animals, the army in 2017 named an officers’ mess lounge in Delhi cantonment after the longest serving army mule, Pedongi, who carried military loads in forward areas for over 30 years.

The army’s animal transport units, equipped with mules, are assigned the responsibility of supporting some of its remotest outposts located at heights of up to 19,000 feet. Mules played a crucial role during the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan.