Four-legged sentries: Stray dogs stand guard as abandoned newborn survives cold night in Bengal town

In the hours before dawn, a newborn baby was left alone on the cold ground outside a bathroom in a railway workers’ colony in a town in West Bengal’s Nadia district. Only a few hours old, the child was left with no blanket, no note, and no one nearby. But the baby was not entirely alone.

What followed is now whispered with disbelief. The very dogs people chase away daily had formed a perfect ring around the newborn, not barking or moving, simply standing guard through the night. Residents say the dogs did not allow anyone or anything to come near.

“Waking up, we saw something that still gives us goosebumps,” said Sukla Mondal, a resident who was among the first to spot the baby. “The dogs were not aggressive. They looked… alert. As if they understood the child was fighting to live,” she said.

Another resident, Subhash Pal, recalled hearing a short, sharp cry around dawn. “I thought some family had a sick baby. Never imagined a newborn was lying outside, with dogs watching over. They behaved like sentries,” he said.

It was only when Sukla finally approached, whispering softly, that the dogs eased open their circle. She wrapped the baby in her dupatta and called neighbours for help.

The infant was rushed first to Maheshganj Hospital and then referred to Krishnanagar Sadar Hospital. Doctors later said there were no injuries, and the blood on the head was likely from birth — a sign that the abandonment happened minutes, not hours, after delivery.

Police suspect someone from the locality may have left the child there under the cover of night. Nabadwip police and Child Help authorities have begun inquiries and initiated procedures for the baby’s long-term care.

Yet, even as officials get to work, the town cannot shake off the image of the dogs — silent, untrained, and yet uncannily protective.

“These are the same dogs we complain about,” said a railway worker. “But they showed more humanity than whoever abandoned that child,” he said.

Old-timers in Nabadwip say the place has always been touched by an inexplicable compassion, tracing it back to the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a 15th-century saint, who was born in this river town and whose message of empathy still echoes through its ghats and temples.

“Maybe that spirit worked through those animals,” an elder remarked.

As evening fell, children in the Rail Colony were seen offering biscuits to the dogs.

In a community used to daily struggles, residents say this night will stay with them — a reminder that sometimes protection comes from the most unexpected places, and that humanity, too often missing, can arrive on four legs.