Heroic Sikh Man Uses His Turban to Save Drowning Dog

A Sikh man in India is being recognized as a hero after he broke religious tradition to rescue a drowning dog.

Sarwan Singh, 28, was driving by an irrigation canal in Punjab, India, when he spotted a group of people pointing at the canal. He stopped his car and went to see what the men were looking at.

“I was shocked to see that there was a dog drowning but no was actually helping,” he told the Metro.

One of the five articles of faith in Sikhism requires wearing a turban at all times while in public, but Singh, unable to swim, saw no other choice but to remove his turban and use it to rescue the struggling dog.

“The moment I started taking off my turban, people watching around were shocked. They thought I was disrespecting my faith,” Singh recalled. “But what was important at that point was to save the animal’s life.”

With the help of some bystanders, Singh climbed down into the steep bank of the canal using a portion of his turban as a rope. He used the remainder of his turban as a makeshift leash, wrapping it around the dog’s neck and pulling him out of the water.

After rescuing the frightened dog from the water, Singh fed him some biscuits before letting him go.