Pettimudi's 'Kuvi' gets a new family

'Kuvi', a local dog at the landslide-hit Pettimudi near Munnar in Idukki who was literally orphaned as all her caretakers were killed, has been adopted by a police dog trainer.

The local breed dog caught the limelight as it tracked the body of two-year-old Dhanushka, who was his companion, in the debris. It was after 'Kuvi' continuously barked at a spot at the river near Pettimudi landslide site that the rescue workers searched the area and spotted Dhanushka's body a week after the mishap.

All other members of her family, except the aged grandmother, were killed and hence Kuvi was orphaned. He was not taking food for days and was roaming around with a gloomy face. Civil police officer and dog trainer Ajith Madhavan, who came across Kuvi's plight, expressed a desire to adopt Kuvi. Kuvi was also found to be quite comfortable with Ajith.

The district administration gave nod to his desire and Ajith took Kuvi with him on Friday.

Two other local breeds, Tiger and Rose, also helped in tracing bodies at the landslide his Pettimude where 65 bodies were already recovered and five still missing even two weeks after the August 6 tragedy. Two specially trained sniffer dogs of Kerala police, including one of Belgian Malinois breed, were also used for tracking humans