CHENNAI, Aug 26 (TOI): From a distance, the dog was a blur next to a freshly dug grave, its whimpers lost in the noise of vehicles speeding past. For more than a fortnight the animal would not leave the spot where the 18-year-old boy who had adopted him had been buried after he died in a road accident. The brown mongrel went without food, braved sun and rain, but refused to move in an extraordinary display of loyalty.

Blue Cross of India volunteers spotted the dog sitting near the grave in the open burial ground near Avadi Bridge, Blue Cross of India general manager Dawn Williams said. "When we attempted to rescue the dog, it stubbornly resisted and refused to budge," Williams said. "It just scratched the grave and whined."

The volunteers then spoke to people who lived nearby. "We met a local resident who said the dog belonged to Bhaskar. He died after being hit by a speeding vehicle on August 2. Bhaskar's mother, Sundhari, 50, is a construction worker who lived in a shed near the building site," Williams said.

When the team went to Sundhari's house she said the dog, Tommy, had been her son's pet for five years. After his death, the animal had disappeared. She accompanied the team to the grave. The emaciated dog staggered towards Sundhari and crouched near her feet.

"Sundhari clasped the dog, held its neck to her face and cried," Blue Cross volunteer Mukund J said.

Sundhari, a widow, said life had become meaningless after the death of her only son. But the pet that had remained steadfast to her son, even after his death, could be a reason to live, she said. "She took Tommy with her and returned home, Mukund said.

When TOI tried to contact Sundhari, residents said she had gone back to her native place in Tiruvannamalai and had taken the dog with her.

"Dogs, like humans, can love, suffer, and grieve," PeTA India CEO Poorva Joshipura said. "We hope everyone who is moved by the story of this faithful companion will care for dogs by adopting a stray or volunteering at an animal shelter."