Faithful dog is still waiting outside hospital months after owner’s death

‘Dog might be sitting there in the hope that his master will return’

A pet dog in India was found waiting for his owner for months outside a mortuary, likely in the hope of his master’s return.

The faithful canine had been reportedly waiting outside the mortuary at a district hospital in southern state Kerala’s Kannur for four months after trailing his owner to the hospital.

He refused to eat anything in the initial days of its owner’s death and would just stare at the locked doors while sitting on the ramp leading up to the mortuary, according to the hospital staff.

"A patient came to the hospital four months ago and the dog had come along with the patient. The patient died and the dog saw the owner being taken to the mortuary," Vikas Kumar, a staff member at the hospital told ANI.

The dog is now being taken care of by hospital staff and also has a new name – Ramu.

"The dog feels that the owner is still here. The dog does not leave this place and has been here for the past four months," he added.

There was a possibility that the patient's body was taken out through the other gate, which could have led Ramu to believe his owner was still inside the building.

He now gets home-cooked food from Maya Gopalakrishnan – a doctor at the hospital – who said Ramu wasn’t particularly “fond of rice” but ate eggs and fish.

Hospital attendant Rajesh Kumar, who was the first to notice him in front of the mortuary, said the staff made inquiries but were unable to identify which patient had the dog followed.

"The dog is usually found on the ramp through which bodies are taken to the mortuary... So the dog might be sitting there in the hope that his master will return," he told the news agency.

It at times wanders to the nearby physiotherapy department but always returns to the mortuary at night. He doesn't mingle with other stray dogs and is particular about his food, the staff said.

The dog's story, reminiscent of legendary loyal canines such as Hachiko in Japan and Fida in Italy, garnered praise on social media.

"A dog loves you more than he loves himself," wrote one user on X, formerly known as Twitter.