My name is Abdul Manan. Today I am writing to you the story of our faithful dog who stood by us forever in every hardship and every good memory. My father has had so many dogs in his life and my life included as he really loved dogs but there has never been a dog as close to us as Jack had been.
I was very young when dad had gotten Jack but I remember him being a little puppy when he first came to our house. I was thrilled to bits taking him in my hands for the first time and had taken him all around the house in happiness. I even went on to take him outside to show my friends what I had got or rather dad had gotten me.
Early days of Jack
Those were the days when everything was so easy. We could go anywhere taking our dogs or anyone with us and no one would worry. So quickly, Jack had become a part of our lives. He would play with us, we would go on walks with all other dogs. Then we would go hunting with all the dogs. But there was something special about Jack. He was from a special breed and the most expensive one. He was quickly growing to be the biggest and strongest of the lot and why would it not be.
My dad had ordered our servants to get him the best diet possible as he had to be trained. I didn't know anything about it at the time. He used to get special desi ghee, milk, cooked eggs, vegetables and cottage cheese specially for him. He would get those things fresh and straight from farms my dad owned. A lot of efforts were used for him to be the best. And he clearly was the strongest of all.
In any activity, he would beat any other dog we owned. And me, he liked the most as I was the liveliest and strongest of my family and I could keep up at his pace and go on for long playing with him or having long jogs in the jungle, we became great friends. And he got the closest to me in no time. He had gotten huge in very less time. The extra care and diet of him was clearly working.
Jack’s First competition
And in no time dad knew it was ready for the competitions. Dad told me he was going to take part in competitions. I didn't know what he meant. So dad promised to take me with him to the first competition of Jack. I was really excited about it. Finally the day came when we had to go there. I was very happy. Every sibling was eyeing me as if I was some alien or I had achieved something great. The servants had prepared Jack well today. They fed him great and he looked powerful as always. As we were on our way, I thought what competition could it be?
Finally we reached there and I was told to sit. I could see dogs everywhere of different kinds but each one of them had one common similarity, they all looked sturdy. Finally the host came and started calling people and their dogs So, it started happening as they would call different dogs and their owners and they would make the dogs fight. It was very strange for me and I was shocked. I didn't like it. I was scared for Jack. How would he survive all this beating. I knew he was a strong dog but he was still our Jack that we brought up with our own hands.
I couldn't see it happen. I closed my eyes as he was called onto the stage. I could hear the commentary going on which was letting me know that poor Jack was getting beaten. I wanted to leave but suddenly voices in my ear told me Jack had won. I had to open my eyes. I opened my eyes to see an injured but victorious Jack.
My dad's eyes were filled with joy and seeing him happy, I got happy too. On our way back home in the car, I asked every little thing from dad. We discussed everything. And dad told me about how rich people use so much money for getting the most expensive and the strongest of dogs. Then then give them the best possible diets and train them well and make so much efforts to win these contests and how much big this was.
Jack had won the prize money for us and dad was happy and he promised me to get me my favorite game's DVD which I had been asking for days. As we came back home, everyone was interested in asking me how it all went. I told every bit of detail to them and everyone was happy to know Jack had won. We partied hard that day as dad spent the prize money's amount on that.
Jack’s new look
He then got things for Jack too. He got for him a red collar which had Jack written in gold. He got his looked revamped with just one addition to it and he looked really cool in it. Jack was also given medical treatment to help him recover the injuries he had faced in the fight. The vets were called to the home and they gave him the best possible treatment they could have given. He recovered very fast and he was again getting ready for next competition.
Dad had advised servants to take even greater care of him as he was the one who was the most important of them all. He had separate training routine set for him. So time came and he had his second fight which he won as well. The competition was easier for him this time but he still had a long way to go.
Jack’s strict routine
The routine got even more strict as dad ordered the servants to train him the best they can. He had to go for jogging in the morning when everyone would be asleep including me and my family but dad would get up early just for it and would go with him and the servants. Even the diet got better and Jack was getting bulkier and he looked more powerful and stronger than ever. He was at his best.
And the time came when he started winning every competition he went to. He wouldn't give a slight chance to any dog and would annihilate them. There was no chance any dog could win against him. He was the best. After all so much efforts and money was put on him and he was giving the fruit of efforts which my dad had put in. So finally, he had won such a prize money this time that dad was really happy and he decided to get a great gift for him this time.
Jack’s new home
Dad called some carpenters and asked them to build a separate house for Jack to live in. He asked them to take as much money as they want but provide Jack with the best possible place to live in there could be for a dog. After 3 days of pure hard work and determination, the carpenters had built and decorated the dog shed by painting it as well and oh boy! it looked wonderful! Even I was jealous of Jack's house. And it looked beautiful.
He would have no problem there, I thought as I looked at the blue color painted dog shed. The servants would provide him with everything Jack needed in that dog shed. So months went by and he had won dad, a lot of competitions and he loved him more than anything that he owned.
He had gotten far from us and family though because of his tough schedule and then his competitions. It wouldn't leave him much time. Then he had got his own house too. So he would be away from us mostly. I would still go to his dog shed and spend some of my time with him. He still liked me the most.
My passion
Even after my tough schedule, I would still make time for Jack. I, in those years had developed a passion that was playing a sport “cricket” as a professional player. For that I was studying, going to a cricket academy for getting coaching and getting my exercise done as a professional athlete aims for. I had gotten better at everything with consistency and patience but was aiming for more. I had a huge problem with me which was while I would be asleep, nothing would wake me up.
Jack the unsung hero
But one day as I was asleep, I got woken up as I heard some noises. I quickly got up to see what was happening. And I saw Jack fighting off some guys. I quickly rang the security alarm and guards came and caught those guys. Everyone had woken up amidst those chaos. Dad came and asked the guards what had happened. Eventually, we got to know those guys had some how broken into the house without catching the eyes of the guards but Jack having seen the guys trying to steal had gotten into the fight and had started barking due to which I had woken up and started the security alarm which alerted the guards. And they caught them.
Dad was very angry at the guards for being negligible towards their job and letting the robbers in. At the same time, he was very happy with Jack. He had already won our hearts many times but he had become clear favorite after this heroic act. Even I had earned my name as brave boy but all credit to Jack. If he hadn't woken me up, I would have been asleep all night not knowing what was happening.
After this, Jack would always stay close to us and dad wanted to spend more time with him as well. So he made him fight in less competitions and spend more time with us instead and at home. We were having the time of our lives. He was such a faithful pet and would always be there for us. He had never let us or my dad down in anything. He was great in everything.
A tough decision
One day my uncle came to our home and everyone as usual met him with great love and respect. After some discussions, he told dad that they wanted a club cricketer to come with them and Manan is one, he wants to take me with him to USA. He told dad that he would take all my expenses as dad has always helped him in every little thing, he wanted to return some favors. He would also provide me accommodation.
My dad wanted some time to take the decision so he said he would tell uncle in a day or two. So dad discussed it with me and family. Although, it would be sad for everyone but I decided I would peruse my passion even if it meant sacrificing living with family. Everything was ready but I was worried about something that was having no one from the family with me, not even Jack.
Then as I thought about it, I went to dad. I told him I wanted to take Jack with me. Dad got worried as to him Jack was his closest dog he owned and it wasn’t an easy decision to make. His son was already going away from him and now I had asked to take his favorite pet away from him as well. It took him long to decide but he decided in my favor as he thought, I would be left alone in a new country and I needed someone as faithful as Jack to be with me who could help me if I was in danger or even I could spend my time with him when I wanted to.
I had researched about it already that I needed some money for it and a passport for Jack. We got everything ready for it and I wanted to pay for it myself.
Beginning of a new life
So the departure day was a really sad day. I was excited about my new life but the sadness of leaving the family was never going. I reached my new country finally and it all felt different. The houses were different, the way of living was different and in fact people were a bit different as well. I reached the place I was supposed to live. I liked it and it was quite spacious for a single person to live in.
For Jack, it must be different staying in my room as he had been living in his own dog shed for some years now. From being alone in the dog shed to being with me must have been a pleasant change though. Yes, he wouldn’t have servants to look after him now but doesn’t mean I didn’t keep him nicely.
We started up a good routine as I would go play cricket and come back and exercise at home. I would give Jack food in between but even my aunt liked dogs so even she would give Jack food sometimes when she could. Our life was going great. I had made good routine, making the change which was so difficult but there was one thing that always affected me which was not having my family close. The only family I had here was Jack which was quite decent as I had some one at least. Living here in America, I realized a lot of things I didn’t know before. The rules for having dogs was very strict as in all the states, possession of dogs for the purpose of fights was a felony offence. Being a spectator at a dog fight was also illegal. I liked the idea and my mentality regarding dogs and dog fights changed as I became a part of my new country. All these years living with Jack in this country had made me realize how bad it was to make the dog’s fight.
Making these creatures fight who can’t say no to it just for our pleasure was a pretty bad level of humanity was what I thought. This change in my mentality had led to a change in my family’s point of view as well. Whenever I would go back to holidays to my country, I would try and change the mentality of as many people as I could. I had made up my mind to help animals of every kind by creating awareness to as much people as I could.
And I had started it from my family and my friends. I had been staying in US for years now and I had become a US citizen now. I was very happy with my life and my profession.
The unfortunate incident
My holidays came this time and I went back home. I didn’t know what tragic incident I had in store for me. Everyone was happy to see me again and had made arrangements for me. We had a great time the next couple of days until one day when everyone was out of home and I was asleep.
I sensed something wrong but I couldn’t get up and chose to sleep. When I woke up, I was shocked to see smoke everywhere. I quickly went to see where it was coming from. Our kitchen was on fire and there was Jack’s dead body lying on the floor. He had given up his life trying to do something to finish the fire. I quickly used the fire extinguishers and called the rescue forces. They helped and finally everything was okay but Jack had gone.
I was really upset at the loss. When my family arrived they were shocked to see the condition of the house and when they got to know about Jack’s death they all got sad. It was a very sad day for all of my family. My dad was broken. He had lost his most precious dog. I couldn’t look in his eyes for days. Finally, dad came up to me one day. He wanted to discuss something with me. He went to tell me that he was very upset at the great loss but he told me he wanted to take a positive step to move on from the loss. He wanted to create awareness in people who didn’t know how bad fighting dogs or for that matter any animal was.
I promised to help him in his cause and we tried to do our best. I told dad how I thought it was my fault Jack lost his life. He told me to not think of it that way. He had that much life written so he had to go whatever reason it became. Dad had forgiven me. But about me , I still think to this date that it was my shortcomings that Jack was taken away from us.
I miss u so much Jack and I am sorry that I became the reason for the loss of your life. You will always be my favorite pet always.
