Enormous amount of inorganic sulfides and lime employed for dehairing of raw hides in the tanneries contribute to the major proportion of chemical load of the tanners, resulting in the discharge of sulfide rich liquors out of the tanneries. An attempt has been made to isolate a proteolytic bacteria from tannery lime effluent. Isolate (T5) that showed the largest zone of lysis on skim milk agar plate was identified as Bacillus pumilus through MALDI-TOF. Vigorous hair removal from hides was observed when they were soaked in the culture supernatant of Bacillus pumilus for 24 hrs, thus proving its ability of unhairing the hides by its protease enzyme. The enzyme was partially purified by acetone precipitation for further studies.