Bomb squad dog succumbs to kidney ailment

Retired Mumbai police bomb detection dog Sultan died of a kidney ailment at a Virar animal farm on Saturday.

The Labrador was attached to the bomb detection dog squad at Goregaon, which also comprised canines named Max, Caesar and Tiger. Max died in April this year. All the four retired police dogs had been sent to a retirement home in an animal farm owned by Fizzah Shah at Virar.

“Sultan was 11 years old and was sent to the animal farm in May 2015 along with his three Labrador colleagues,” said Shah.

The three dogs had been restless since Max died, she said. The canine soldiers had worked hard to detect RDX and other bomb materials, which affected their health, said Ms Shah, adding that they were heroes for saving many lives during the 26/11 bomb blasts.

Sultan was taken care of by his handler, Sujit Ghorpade, since he was a mere 2-month-old puppy and when we told him (Ghorpade) about Sultan’s demise he was devastated, said Ms Shah.

“We wrapped Sultan’s body in the national flag and buried him near the pit where Max was cremated and we gave him a tearful farewell,” she said.

No personnel from the Mumbai police were present at the funeral as all the police officers were on Ramzan duty.

Recalling the fond times she had with Sultan, Ms Shah said, “Sultan was an obedient soldier and easy to handle just like the other police retired dogs and his favourite pastime was to play ball with my staffers at the farm. He was a foodie; he loved chicken-rice and dog biscuits. We will miss him dearly.”