The Indian army has had countless brave war heroes who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their nation. However, it is not only the human soldiers who have died for the motherland. Zoom is one such war hero who recently passed away in the line of duty. Zoom was a Belgian Malinois, one of the fiercest and most loyal dogs in combat. While there are several breeds of dogs that can be used by the military, the Belgian Malinois is arguably the most effective. Let’s take a look at the brief journey of Zoom in the Indian army.

The Early Life of Zoom

Zoom the Belgian Malinois was recruited into the Indian army about 8 months before his passing. While he passed away at the young age of 2 years, he lived a short yet meaningful life. Zoom was recruited into the 28 Army Dog Unit (ADU) of the Indian army. But before being recruited into the ADU, Zoom was trained and brought up in the Remount Veterinary Corps Centre and College (RVC) in Meerut. During his tenure at this college, Zoom was extensively trained in patrolling, sniffing Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), guard duty, assaulting potential targets, and mine detection. He was also trained in avalanche debris detection and sniffing contraband items. However, the most useful skill he learned was participating in search operations to locate hiding fugitives and terrorists.

Zoom in Operation Tangpawa

Being highly trained in all of these skills of a combat dog, Zoom was sent on a very important counter-terrorist mission in Kashmir. This mission was named Mission Tangpawa and took place in the Anantnag region of Kashmir. After a grueling fight with two of the most wanted terrorists in Kashmir, Zoom was finally shot twice and fatally injured. However, despite being shot at twice, Zoom continued to fight. He dragged out both the terrorists. After this, the counter-terrorist squad shot and killed the two terrorists. These two terrorists – Asif Ah Rishi and Wakeel Ah Bhat, were operating covertly out of Anantnag in Kashmir.

Zoom’s Treatment and Demise

After being gravely injured, the brave fighter was rushed to the 54 Advance Field Veterinary Hospital. He was treated by some of the best veterinary surgeons at this hospital. Nevertheless, his fate was unfortunately sealed. He ultimately breathed his last on 13th October 2022 in the ICU of this hospital. The veterinarians were initially hopeful because he was responding to treatment. But on the morning of 13th October 2022, Zoom unexpectedly convulsed and passed away.

Takeaway

Netizens are now clamoring to give this war hero a posthumous military honour. The Indian Government has not given any official response yet. However, given the history of decorating military dogs with posthumous honours as was the case of Alex, we can rest assured that Zoom’s sacrifice will not go unnoticed. If you wish to read more of such interesting content, you can also check out other trending topics related to everything canine. For example, Varun Dhawan’s latest werewolf movie is now trending on YouTube.