Care for your furry pals

As the city busies itself with preparations for Diwali, it rarely spares a thought for animals, especially strays that go unnoticed in the midst of celebrations. Strays fall victim to injuries caused by fire crackers more than pets as the latter are often comforted by their owners.

A dog's hearing ability is five times stronger than that of humans, which makes Diwali a horrifying experience for them. Hope is not lost as efforts are being put in by a few NGOs to discontinue the use of fire crackers. Welfare of Stray Dogs (WSD) is one such organisation that has pledged to put an end to the bursting of fire crackers. "To give refuge to the petrified strays during Diwali is difficult; a clever idea would be to put a temporary tag on the stray with a telephone number on it. Street dogs travel far out of their territory to go into hiding. People who notice a new dog in their area can then contact the animal-carer seeing the telephone number on the tag," says Abodh Aras, CEO, Welfare of Stray Dogs, Kala Ghoda.

Vidula Warawdekar, Malabar Hill resident and a pet owner, says, "My dog is fortunately not scared of such things, but his companion dog is scared of crackers. Thankfully, the area I reside in follows a strict 10 p.m. rule, so we can at least get our pets out post 10 p.m."
Dr. Mayur Dangar, Manager, BSPCA, Parel, says, "On an average, we receive 10–12 cases, every year, of strays that get burnt during Diwali. One needs to be careful when choosing areas to burst crackers. If you bring your pets outside, they are likely to get scared and confused, leading to accidents. My only suggestion to pet owners is that they should not bring their pets out in the open during Diwali."