Disaster Pawtrol: Pet dog Rocky saves lives during cloudburst

MANDI (Himachal Pradesh): As recent natural disasters ravaged Himachal Pradesh, a pet dog, Rocky, in Syathi village seems to have proven the saying of ‘man’s best friend’ by saving his family members from a cloudburst in the region on June 30.

On Monday, as water started accumulating at the ground floor of the families’ house in the village, Rocky alerted his family members about the situation, allowing them vacate the premises on time and reach a safe location.

#WATCH | Mandi, Himachal Pradesh | Rocky’s pet parent Lalit Kumar says, “On June 30, at around 12.30 am, I was sleeping. Our pet dog Rocky was barking loudly. When I went out of the house, I saw that the ground floor of the house had been submerged in water. I went to the second… https://t.co/kv2cA8tnPD pic.twitter.com/9SZG5XQBrR

— ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2025

Lalit Kumar, the owner of the dog, recalled being saved by his dog. “I was sleeping and soon as I woke up, we have this small dog. He was barking loudly. When I got out of the house, the ground floor was flooded and it was raining too much. I took him out, he sat down on the ground floor of my house. I went to the second floor to the family. My family was sitting there”.

“I moved my family to my grandparents’ house. When I looked outside at my house from there, I saw that my house went down with landslide”, he added.

Abhishek Kumar, who saw the houses being swept away mentioned, “The incident happened on June 30 around 1:30 pm,. I was at home sleeping, my mother was at home, grandparents were there, and other family members were there”, he said.

He said that initially they were not aware of the seriousness of the situation and had gathered with their family members at the house. “Suddenly this vibration sound came. I felt that there was some shaking and so on or something like there was a pillar there, it had fallen…. my brother’s two boys came and they kept running and the house was swept away. When we got up, we saw the situation outside, everyone had gathered there. Taya ji’s girl, who cannot walk, was also brought and we gathered at the house thinking it is a safe place”, he said.

However, he remembered they understood the disaster which was about to come when they saw their relative’s house collapse in front of their eyes. He added, “Just like how my relatives house was swept away, if our house had also been swept away, then we would not have survived. Somehow we all have fled from there”.

Earlier, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu returned from a tour of flood-ravaged Mandi district and announced that the state has suffered losses worth Rs 800 crore due to the ongoing monsoon devastation.

CM Sukhu urge the Centre to release a special disaster relief package immediately. Speaking to the media after chairing a high-level meeting with the Revenue Department in Shimla, the Chief Minister urged the BJP MPs from Himachal Pradesh to seek central support for the disaster-hit state. (ANI)