Karnataka - Mysore   

Out of cages and into the open

— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

Into the wild: Birds such as these were freed by members of People for People atop Chamundi Hills on Sunday.

MYSORE: A group of businessmen from here have donned the role of bird-welfare activists. They are spreading awareness among people on the need to free birds kept as pets in homes.

Their compassion for birds was evident when they freed pet birds, including pigeons and lovebirds, atop Chamundi Hills on Sunday.

The idea of freeing the birds was to send across the message that instead of keeping pet birds in cages, people should set them free.

People for People (PFP), a non-profit organisation formed by 30 businessmen, bought 30 pigeons and several lovebirds from the market and freed them in front of the Chamundeshwari temple atop the hills.

“Our job is not to rescue birds or animals, but to create awareness on the need to set them free. They too have a life on earth and we are not supposed to curtail their freedom by keeping them in our homes for our amusement,” says Gautham Salecha of PFP. The businessmen, most of whom have shops on D. Devaraj Urs Road, formed the organisation to work for less-privileged people in society. The businessmen visit orphanages, old-age homes and home for the destitute, on Sundays.

They spend the day with them and share their sorrows and happiness. “This kind of service gives us satisfaction. Being born in this world, we too have certain social responsibilities that need to be fulfilled to lead a worthy life,” Mr. Salecha notes. In addition to its routine activities, the members, came up with the idea of spreading awareness on the need to free pet birds.

“We freed the birds to mark the country’s 61st Independence Day. It is time that pet birds get freedom from those who have kept them in cages,” Mr. Salecha said.

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