An attack dog for the army that was injured in the Anantnag conflict
Born in September 2020, Zoom served for eight months in the 28 Army Canine Unit. It was a melanosa or belgian shepherd.
Zoom, an Army combat dog, died of his wounds on Thursday. After being shot twice by terrorists on Monday, Zoom was taken to the Armed Forces Veterinary Hospital in Srinagar for treatment.
Gunshot wounds to the face and rear right leg required surgery. As one police officer from Srinagar put it: “While being treated at 54 AFVH, our Army dog Zoom passed away around noon.
He seemed to be improving and responding well until 11:45 when he began to become short of breath and quickly collapsed. Zoom’s mission was to flush out the terrorists hiding in that house. The dog followed the extremists into the house and started attacking them.
The dog was shot twice and seriously injured during the operation. Still, the dog persevered in his mission and eventually helped take down two terrorists. The Indian Army has expressed grief over the loss of its dog.
Tweeted by the Northern Command was the following message: “The Chief of the Army Northern Command expresses his grief over the loss of the attack dog Zoom. He died on 13 October 2022 of injuries sustained in an accident on duty at Tangpawa #Ananatnag. A true patriot who puts his country first.”
#UPDATE | Army dog Zoom, treated at 54 AFVH (Advance Field Veterinary Hospital), died around 12 noon today. He responded well until about 11:45 a.m., when he suddenly began gasping for breath and collapsed: Army officials
He had sustained 2 gunshot injuries during an operation in J&K pic.twitter.com/AaEdKYEhSh
— ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2022
Zoom, a melanois or Belgian shepherd, joined the 28th Army Canine Unit (ADU) in September 2020 and served for eight months. Out of a total of 32 army units, there are 19 dog units assigned to the Northern Command. There are 24 dogs in each kennel unit, each with a unique specialty.
On Sunday, a joint team of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Central Reserve Police Force and the Army conducted an operation in Tangpawa, Anantnag based on intelligence inputs. As a result of the surveillance, the forces were able to reach the target house, but the exact number of terrorists inside was still unknown.
The forces confirmed the presence of two terrorists in the house after changing the cordon and exchanging fire throughout the night.
On Monday, the Army said: “During this period, with our own technical means, it was established that one of the terrorists was wounded. After the terrorists have hidden their weapons in the target’s house, “the brave Zoom is sent to retrieve them,” according to an Army insider.
Zoom sneaked up on the terrorist and immediately attacked him. The terrorists hiding nearby opened fire on him, seriously injuring him. However, the terrorists are destabilized by his efforts and the troops’ accurate fire quickly eliminates them.
Terrorists armed with rifles are easy prey for attack dogs that are trained to track and kill them, even if they are hiding in a room. Recent operations in Kashmir have confirmed the usefulness of canine soldiers, including attack dogs.