A man in east India was terrified to discover his dog had been bitten trying to protect him from a deadly venomous snake that had sneaked into his home.
Srikant Kumar Acharjya heard his three-year-old dog, Kalia, barking furiously on January 23.
When he checked, he found that Kalia had engaged in a fight with a venomous Russell's viper, which had entered his home near Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
Kalia fought with the snake and even held it in its mouth while the viper was trying to strike back.
Acharjya bravely intervened and pulled the snake out of Kalia’s mouth, but by then the snake had managed to bite the dog’s face.
As the snake had slipped into an adjacent room, Acharjya bolted the door and called Snake Helpline, which sent a volunteer Purnachandra Das to help.
Das rescued the snake, which had suffered minor injuries, and released it back to its natural habitat.
Kalia was rushed to a veterinarian, who put him on an anti-venom treatment.
After keeping a tense night-long vigil, Acharjya was relieved to see Kalia recover from the bite.
Subhendu Mallik, founder of Snake Helpline, said: "Though the dog is doing well I have advised them to test if its kidneys are functioning well as Russell's viper’s bite usually leads to renal failure." Srikant Acharjya said "Our dog Kalia saved our lives by risking his own life."