Not such a good boy after all

What this correspondent is about to break to you is a story of betrayal, heartbreak and of course, utter and complete disappointment.

Last week, Puma, the goodest boy on the force, found six bodies from the rubble of an unnatural disaster. Everyone was quite proud of Puma, especially since the sheer amount of debris would've made any dog miss out on the bodies.

However, Puma, being as exceptional as he is, sniffed them out.

Everyone was overjoyed. Puma received more pats on the head than he ever did before. The treats kept on coming. And if that wasn't enough reward for our good boy, Puma also received the "Police Chief's Medal" (the highest honour among police), which was previously only awarded to human cops. He was the envy of all the dogs on the force.

"Everybody thought that I was just jealous when I barked out the truth. A week ago, the lieutenant called me to his room and said that I'm off the leash. That I have been a bad boy," whimpered Lattu.

The police chief said, "Well I had no doubt that Puma would be the one to retrieve the bodies. Ever since he was a pup, he was so sharp. We used to call him 'The Hound' for the kind of nose that he has on him. He could always tell from afar if a cop hadn't washed his hands after going number 1. From then on, we knew he had serious talent."

However, upon in-depth investigation, this correspondent found that Puma stole credit from another dog on the force, Lattu, who was the real good boy that sniffed out the bodies.

This correspondent met with Lattu on Wednesday, who was found chasing his own tail at an alley near the Police Academy building. He seemed quite anxious.

When this correspondent asked why Lattu was loitering in the alley, he replied "woof, ruff, woof woof, ruff ruff, whoof", which loosely translated to, "They burned me man. I found those bodies and they burned me. Puma isn't the good boy you think he is."

Asked to elaborate, Lattu said, "Puma went east while I covered the west front. After around seven minutes or so, I found the bodies. I kept calling out to my lieutenant, barking. Minutes later, Puma comes running. He shoved my paw off the body and scowled. And that's exactly when everyone came in and lo and behold, Puma saved the day.

"Everybody thought that I was just jealous when I barked out the truth. A week ago, the lieutenant called me to his room and said that I'm off the leash. That I have been a bad boy," whimpered Lattu.

This correspondent would've asked more questions but before she could, Lattu got distracted and started barking at a homeless man.

Upon meeting Puma, this correspondent understood his allure. Meeting this correspondent, Puma started wagging his tail and stuck his tongue out. This correspondent almost got distracted by his charms and found herself compromising her journalistic integrity by patting Puma. He was good, a little too good.

However, after a game of fetch, Puma blurted out the truth.

"Look, Lattu wasn't ever going to make it. He was a dog adopted from a corner shop. I, on the other hand, am a premium breed. The police chief's daughter picked me out herself.

"Dogs like Lattu just don't figure out the game as well as dogs like me do, that's all. He just needed to work harder. But it seems nobody wants to work these days. Lattu was just barking up the wrong tree I suppose," added Puma.