Pomerian bitch plays mother to orphan monkey

Varanasi, Nov 12 (UNI) Motherhood knows no bounds. A four-year-old pomerian bitch who in the past has been deprived of her offspring by dog lovers here has rediscovered peerless motherhood by playing mother to a two-month-old orphan monkey.

It was not Bollywood beauties Rani Mukherjee or Konkana Sen shooting for a hindi flick in the city, but 'Dorothy' -- the starch white bitch with her monkey son 'Jahan' cuddled to her back -- who became the cynosure of all eyes here this evening.

The strange mother-son pair domesticated by the Dhawan family of riverine Gaighat locality won the hearts of one and all who had come to view the labradors, great danes, bull dogs, boxer and other rare breed canines at the annual dog show organised by the Kashi Kennel Club here today.

''Two months back, we got news that a new born monkey had been orphaned after his mother fell from a height on the Gaighat, edging the Ganga river. We immediately went to the spot and carried the new born male monkey to our house, already having two dogs and the bitch 'Dorothy','' Ankit Dhawan, the young member of the Dhawan household told UNI here.

As expected, there was a great dislike for the small monkey among the canine threesome, who often tried to attack the unwelcomed guest in their fiefdom. ''The mother in 'Dorothy', however, slowly started getting close to 'Jahan' -- the monkey -- and then one day we saw the monkey feed on the milk of a visibly satisfied dog mother,'' Ankit added.

Now, while the dogs have slowly started discarding 'Jahan', 'Dorothy' has found in the monkey son her world of offspring devoured twice in the past by dog lovers, he added.

''It was a memorable sight catching a glimpse of a bitch acting mother to a monkey, who responded to the motherly warmth by licking the eyes of a satisfied 'Dorothy','' said Shikha and Sunaina, college-goers who captured photographs of the strange bond, after failing to catch a glimpse of the two Bollywood beauties shooting for a Yash Raj banner film in the Ramnagar Fort across the Ganga river.

UNI ARS MB PB BS1724