A Few Good Men.

I walk back home from work every day. On the final stretch home, I am required to cross the road to get onto my side of the street. It's a very wide road and an even more traffic-heavy thoroughfare.
Yesterday, while crossing, I noticed a stray dog dragging herself forward with only her front legs. She had somehow managed to get about 30% across the street, and had left a trail of blood behind her. Traffic was zipping by without bothering to stop. I walked up to her and it was clear that her hind quarters and legs had been run over. My first instinct was to get her out of the traffic, so I grabbed her scruff and slowly pulled her over to a nearby metal barricade (these are kept on the main road to slow down traffic). As is expected, passersby stared, leered, made comments etc, but did nothing to help. A girl dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, kneeling next to an injured stray dog on the road must be quite the spectacle, I'm sure.
So there I was, in the middle of traffic, wondering what the hell to do. I started making calls to shelters and veterinary assistants attached to clinics. Hello, no one can come treat the dog or pick it up tonight, thank you, bye bye, click.
In the meantime, I'd also contacted my mum and brother who arrived with biscuits and water (my place is less than 200 meters away). The parched dog drank as much as she could and went back to trembling fearfully.
And then this happened. A middle-aged gentleman in a smart blazer appeared by my side. He had been passing by in his car and saw me with the injured animal. He asked me if I'd been able to organise any ambulance services and since I hadn't, he started making some calls. To my surprise, within seconds of his arrival, scores of policemen emerged from the Topsia Police Station across the road and began saluting him. Who on earth was this man and what exactly were the cops doing all this time? Watching the spectacle along with the others? 
A nearby shopkeeper came over at the commotion and informed us that a police van had backed over the dogs legs at 8am that day. Oh, the irony. On hearing that, the stranger-gentleman let the cops have it. Wasn't the dog all the more their responsibility if one of theirs had indeed run it over? And why the hell were grown men in positions of power not helping a lone girl out when she obviously needed it?
It was now 9pm. After the accident at 8am, the shopkeeper had pulled the dog to the side of the road a and given her some food, but she was in tremendous distress and kept trying to cross the road. Why? Because she had pups on the other side. Thankfully, the pups are not nursing, and are a fair bit independent.
I kid you not, in less than ten minutes of this gentleman arriving on the scene, a van had been organised to transport the dog to Love n Care. Shopkeeper and I lifted her into the van, and off she went, accompanied by a police escort. Seriously, who was this guy?! I asked the gentleman for his number so that I could followup the dog's progress and he handed me his business card.
This happened on Friday night. Till Saturday evening, this gentleman kept himself available to me on the phone and updated me with every detail pertaining to the dog's whereabouts. Turns out the van driver couldn't find Love n Care the night before, and had instead delivered the patient to the very capable arms of Mother's Heart, a much smaller, private animal clinic run by a gentleman called Partha. I spoke with Partha himself and he confirmed having received the dog in the night. This morning, my new acquaintance personally arranged for Sushmita Roy of Love n Care to send her ambulance to Mother's Heart, pick up the ward, and bring her safely back to Love n Care, where Sushmita herself would see to her treatment. The dog has suffered massive trauma to her hind quarters and spine, and is most likely paralysed and unlikely to walk with all four legs again. While she's stable and nothing else seems to be ailing her, she might not make it. The prognosis is not good, but, thanks to the kindness and compassion of this one man, she has a fighting chance. Sushmita herself has kept me up to speed on the patient's condition all day. I will continue to check up on its progress. And while I've been told to prepare for the worst, I could't really hope for anything more given the circumstances.
I am overwhelmed by the help I received. Some of you will think, so what, he helped one little dog, what's the big deal. But think of what a big deal it is to that one dog who will not suffer the indignity, agony and trauma of being left to die in the street. It turns out, that the gentleman who helped me is an avid animal lover and contributes very generously and regularly towards the welfare of strays. He has a daughter like me, who wouldn't have walked away from a helpless, wounded animal. He could have driven off, but he stopped. He could have sent the dog off on it's way and then switched off his phone. He could have been any of the other people who did nothing.
There's a popular saying that's uttered when humans do something good for others. 'Faith in humanity restored'. I am not an advocate for any organisation or task force. I have strongly opposed certain actions of animal welfare organisations as well as laws and policies and laws carried out by task forces in the city. As a freethinking individual, you can hate the Kolkata Police on the whole, you can criticise its efficacy, attitude and manner of dealings. But there are a few good men out there. I met one last night.