Nidhi, the RPF Doberman

Jamshedpur, Sept. 9: Nidhi, the sniffer dog at the disposal of Railway Protection Force (Tatanagar), is now off the auction block.

The female Doberman — who has several acts of bravery to her name, from nabbing thieves, murderers to keeping a tab on railway tracks — will now be given to a dog handler with a proven track record, for the remaining years of her life.

Repealing its earlier order of auctioning Nidhi, which was passed in February this year, the RPF has now decided to hand over the 13-year-old canine to an experienced dog handler, who is yet to be finalised. Nidhi was to be auctioned and replaced with a pair of young Labradors.

The decision came after the Jamshedpur Animal Welfare Society (JAWS) intervened in the matter in April.

JAWS had asked the RPF to drop the idea of auctioning the canine, as they felt she deserved better for the services she has rendered to the unit. Moreover, her auction was to begin with a paltry price of Rs 150.

The society had also written to Maneka Gandhi, the chairperson of People for Animal (PFA) as well as various crusaders of animal protection across the country. They also threatened to move court.

“We recently met the RPF authorities and urged them not to auction Nidhi,” said JAWS president A.K. Jha. He added that they also presented several rulings of the Supreme Court against the auction of animals. The matter was also communicated to the chief security commissioner Garden Reach, Calcutta. “We are only waiting for a formal approval from RPF director-general Ranjeet Sinha,” Jha added.

However, RPF unit has confirmed that the canine will not be auctioned. “We will find her a dog handler,” RPF (Tatanagar) inspector R.C. Bhuin told The Telegraph.

Auctioning dogs or retired animals is not a practice at kennels owned by companies in the city. An official of the kennels under Tata Motors said they keep canines even after they have become weak and old. “They stay under our care after they become incapable of serving their duties. We don’t auction them,” the official said.

Nidhi has been prized possession of the RPF unit here. But she was declared “retired” after authorities decided that she was too old to carry on her duties.

Procured from New Delhi when only a month old, Nidhi was in-charge of patrol operations on platforms and trains. She had also nabbed a killer near Hata in East Singhbhum.

She also helped crack a murder case of a railway guard at Dongaposi in the neighbouring West Singhbhum. “We arrested a security guard of an industrial unit in the case. Nidhi led us there after sniffing the dead body and the surroundings,” the RPF inspector recalled.

Nidhi is presently spending her time at the RPF unit here in the company of a pair of Labrador pups — Alexander and Snowy.