Caesar, the police dog on duty during 26/11, slides into depression after furry friend's demise

Caesar, the police dog on duty during the Taj Hotel Colaba seige during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has been admitted to the hospital. The furry police aide is suffering from severe depression after his colleague, Tiger — a black Labrador, another police dog, recently passed away.

According to The Times of India , four sniffer dogs — Max, Sultan, Tiger and Caesar — were part of the 26/11 operation. They retired from the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) in May last year. Of the four dogs, Max, Sultan and Tiger have passed away. Indiatimes reported that the other dogs, Max, Tiger and Sultan had all died within four months of each other.

Fizah Shah, animal activist whose farm in Virar is home to these dogs, said that the dogs loved playing with balls and catching coconuts.

Max,Sultan,Tiger, Ceaser (living) in their farm house.They were part of the police force during 26/11 attacks. pic.twitter.com/lkCBadPhYW

— ANI (@ANI) July 23, 2016

Quoted in The Hindu , Shah said that after Sultan had died, Tiger went into depression and “when Max died, these three used to linger around his grave.” However, after Tiger’s demise, Caesar couldn’t keep well. According to Shah, he just sat down and was not ready to get up.

It isn’t just humans who experience grief, according to an article, Dealing With Grief in Dogs , “When a dog is mourning, the loss of a dog companion, he is mourning a fellow pack member and the loss of their previous pack position.” Darcy F Morey, zoologist in his book, Dogs: Domestication and the Development of a Social Bond , says that dog in fact exhibit symptoms of depression like humans suffering from depression do and this he says, should not be confused with the human instinct to anthromorphise relationships.