Story by Maroosha Muzaffar
A dog in Nepal who presumably lost his home in last week’s floods that killed more than 1000 people, is refusing to leave the site where four homes were swept away.
The black-and-white dog – whose name wasn’t available – has remained at the ruins in Trishuli Bazaar in Nuwakot district, as rescue workers and heavy machinery cleared mud, timber and other debris from around him.
His collar remained around his neck, but he appeared largely indifferent to the people working nearby, the rescue workers claimed.
The dog reportedly does not wag his tail and repeatedly returns to the spot where the entrance to one of the houses once stood.
Volunteer relief worker Bikram Thapa said rescuers initially tried to tempt the dog away with food and familiar calls, but without success.
“We’ve tried coaxing him with biscuits and calling him by all sorts of pet names, but he doesn’t even turn his head. His collar is intact,” he said. “He won’t leave this place,” Mr Thapa was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
Sunil Tamang, who has been involved in clearing the debris, said the noise of excavators and other machinery has also failed to persuade the animal to leave.
“In the middle of all the heavy JCB engines and clearing operations, he just sits in that muddy pool,” Mr Tamang told TOI.
“Not a single wag of his tail. He refuses to cross the boundary of where his yard used to end.”
Even when excavators approached the area, Mr Tamang said, the dog showed little sign of fear.
He sometimes raised his head when vehicles or people passed through the wreckage, but returned to the same spot once they left, the rescuers said.
The four houses that once stood there have been swept away, leaving behind a landscape of mud, scattered debris and fragments of the destroyed structures. Workers have been unable to establish who the dog belonged to or determine which of the four houses was his home.
But his behaviour has led those at the site to believe that he is staying within what he recognised as his former territory, repeatedly returning to the location of the house and remaining within the boundaries of what was once its yard.
Community animal rescue volunteer Rita Gurung said people at the site have now stopped trying to force the dog away and are instead leaving food and water for him.
“We keep leaving dry rations near him every few hours,” Ms Gurung said. “He only takes a bite when the road is quiet.”
Maya Adhikari, a displaced resident, said most dogs in the area sought higher ground when the flooding began, but this animal remained near the destroyed homes.
“This was his territory, his family’s courtyard,” she said.
On social media, several videos of dogs waiting for owners have emerged in the last few days. However, it couldn’t be verified whether they were pets or strays.
Relatives look at a screen to identify deceased victims at a mortuary, after flash floods hit Bharatpur in Nepal’s Chitwan district on 1 September 2026 (AFP/Getty)
Meanwhile, NBC captured the reunion of another dog named Sweetie from Nuwakot, who survived the devastating floods after being left trapped at her home, with her owner.
Her family had reportedly tried to get her to safety, but because she is a deaf dog, she reportedly could not hear their calls.
Sweetie ended up surviving alone for five days before rescuers found her and reunited her with her owner Shoba Shretha.
The death toll from flooding in Nepal and China passed 1,000 on Tuesday, authorities said, as rescue teams worked to reach communities cut off by the disaster.
Nepal’s disaster agency said on Tuesday that 987 deaths had been counted there, with 3,916 people missing, including 583 foreigners. Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths in their most recent update on Sunday.
