In Mumbai city, a new pet theory

Smita Zankar, in her early forties, is a social worker in the areas of child adoption and foster care and spends most of her time in the field. She is also an animal lover and specifically loves dogs, but is not ready to bring one home as a pet.

“I love dogs but I haven’t studied animal psychology. I don’t understand their behaviour fully. I don’t think it’s fair to bring a dog home when I know I am not prepared for it,” says Zankar. But she spends a few hours every week at the Welfare of Stray Dogs in Mahalaxmi.

“I take a select set of dogs for a walk. Some people may find it crazy, but I talk to the dogs. If it’s time to feed them, I just sit by their side. If a dog is ill or wounded, I lovingly stroke it,” she says.

Zankar is not alone. Amid the city’s fast-paced life, animal lovers are opting for token, or partial, adoption of pets, which allows them to spend time with the animals at their convenience. What accounts for its popularity is reduced dependence of an animal on a person — which is not what happens when one brings a pet home.

Realising the potential of token adoption, animal welfare organisations in the city have begun to act facilitators through various projects and schemes.

The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) — which in a collaborative study has identified 77 endangered bird species in the country — has devised an adopt-a-rare-bird programme. “You adopt a bird species for Rs300 and as a token of appreciation we give you a beautiful photo of your adopted species in a wooden hand-made frame with a brief note on the species,” says Divyesh Parikh, marketing head, BNHS. In 2009, about 2,000 birds have been adopted under the scheme.

IDA India, another animal welfare organisation, started a sponsor-a-pet scheme for 46 dogs at its Deonar centre in March 2009. To date, 24 dogs have found sponsors. Two dogs, Pixie and Lalu, have been particularly lucky since they’ve found multiple sponsors.

“Many people don’t take pets home for various reasons. Projects like ‘sponsor a pet’ are a nice way to bond with an animal, when you can’t take it home. A sponsor is free to take a pet for walks, feed it and spend time with it,” says Vivienne Choudhury, vice-president, IDA India.

Apart from inviting sponsors for bonding with their pets and building a pleasant relationship, the organisation also encourages virtual correspondence between a sponsor and the pet. “We keep the sponsors updated about the health of their pets. We also send them their pets’ latest photos and personalised greetings on special occasions,” she adds.

Nita Amla, a teacher at Fr. Agnel, Vashi, has Jacky, a seven-year-old Pomeranian, at home, but this didn’t stop her from partially adopting Blacky, a one-year-old mongrel through IDA’s scheme. Her busy teaching schedule, she says, restricts her from taking full responsibility of Blacky.

“Blacky sends me greetings on my birthday and wedding anniversary, and on Christmas with really cute and touching messages like ‘thank you for taking care of me’. This helps strengthening our emotional connect even if I can’t visit him frequently,” says Amla, for whom token adoption is a way to reach out to needy and vulnerable strays.

For some, however, token adoption is a means to acclimatise themselves with animals so that they can adopt a pet in the future. “It is a beginning to sensitise people to fully adopt a dog and take it home. At our kennel, people get food for dogs, bathe them and interact with them in various ways. This also instills a sense of responsibility in people because they know what they are expected to do when they adopt a dog and take it home,” says
Abod Araz, CEO, WSD.

He says getting to know an animal before adopting it also helps in controlling incidences of abandoned pets.

Shernaz Dhond, a solicitor and mother of two, on a sabbatical from work, is gearing up to add another member to her family. After visiting the WSD kennel, and spending some time with strays and abandoned dogs, Dhond is ready to adopt Mocha and bring her home.

“To look after a pet is almost like looking after a child. It’s a big responsibility and hence I took my time to adopt one fully. With Mocha, I just know that she is the one and I am only too happy to bring her into my family,” she says.

Meanwhile, Zankar is happy to see the joy on the faces of her select bunch of strays, each time she pays them a visit.