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Loyal dog refuses to leave family home washed away by floods in Nepal

Published 16:54 1 Sept 2026 BST

Updated 16:55 1 Sept 2026 BST

Christian Buschardt
Loyal dog refuses to leave family home washed away by floods in Nepal

Homenews

Dog refuses to leave rubble as rescuers clear debris

One dog is reportedly refusing to leave the site after four homes were swept away during the Nepal flash floods that killed close to 1,000 people. 

The dog, whose name remains unknown, has remained in the ruins of Trishuli Bazaar in the Nuwakot district, surrounded by rescuers and heavy machinery clearing out the mud. 

Rescue workers claim that the black and white dog remains largely unbothered by the debris, machinery and all around chaos.

It is reported that the dog does not wag his tail and repeatedly returns to the same spot where the houses used to stand.

“We’ve tried coaxing him with biscuits and calling him by all sorts of pet names, but he doesn’t even turn his head,” said volunteer worker Bikram Thapa.

“He won't leave this place,” he added.

Another rescuer, Sunil Tamang, said the noise of excavators and other machinery has left the dog unbothered, failing to persuade the animal to leave.

“Not a single wag of his tail. He refuses to cross the boundary of where his yard used to end,” he told TOI.

The dog is said to show little signs of fear when approached by Mr Tamang.

The clearing where the four houses used to be are now a landscape filled with mud and fragments of destroyed structure. 

Rescue workers are said to be unable to establish to which house the dog belonged. 

Rita Gurung, a community animal rescue volunteer, said people at the site have now stopped trying to force the dog away and are instead leaving food and water for him.

One displaced resident, Maya Adhikari, said most dogs in the area sought higher ground when the flooding began.

However, this animal remained near the destroyed homes, saying that “this was his territory, his family’s courtyard.”

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