Saturday, August 25, 2007

Dog de-husks coconuts

Vatakara: Jully, a female dog owned by a native of Vatakara near Kerala’s Calicut District, helps in dehusking coconuts.

K Sujit, a plumber by profession, bought Jully when she was just two-and-half years old. This cross between a German Shepherd and a Labrador has been trained to dehusk soft and tender coconuts.

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Jully dehusks two to three coconuts a day, and is a great help to the family.

“It has a passion for coconuts and gets excited when it sees a coconut. We have to chain it when labourers come to take a few coconuts from our trees,” said Surjit.

In Kerala, coconuts are used as a base in almost all dishes. A family of five needs one to two coconuts a day for use in meals.

Sujit's wife, Valsala a housewife, finds it a great helping hand.

After working on a single coconut, Jully carries it along for few minutes and does not allow anyone to touch it.

“If we put one coconut in front of Jully, she dehusks it clearly and neatly. I used to find this a difficult task. But now when I need one, I just put one in front of her, and she does the rest,” Valsala added.

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