Have you recently decided to bring home a pet? You’re just in time for the much-awaited Blue Cross adoptathon this Sunday. Dozens of healthy puppies, kittens and adult dogs will be at the event, waiting patiently to be adopted by loving families.
Actors Amala Akkineni and Trisha will be at the event to support homeless pet adoption. Says Trisha – “I believe that every dog should have a home: there shouldn’t be any dog that’s abused, abandoned or homeless”. Trisha adopted her Indian dog Cadbury from the streets of Hyderabad when he was injured in a hit-and-run accident. She looks back on the decision as one that enriched her life. “Cadbury did us a favour by coming into our lives”, she says adding that all dogs are alike in their levels of affection, irrespective of breed. “Indian dogs make great pets and are extremely loyal”, she says.
All the puppies at the camp are mongrels and native breeds. Volunteers are promoting this event as the ideal way to get a pup, instead of buying one from a pet store or breeder. Says Mehul Kamdar who adopted his pet Jack (an abandoned Terrier) from the Blue Cross several years ago, “People are often blissfully unaware of the misery that they promote in buying pedigree dogs. There are a lot of reasons - both ethical and practical, for adopting a mongrel - nature's hybrid instead”. Agrees Blue Cross Joint Secretary Sathya Radhakrishnan – “Every time you buy a pedigree pup, you end up fuelling illicit backyard breeders or the puppy mill industry. All the pedigree dogs in our shelter are those that were abandoned”. Some of these pedigree dogs will also be at the event, looking for a second chance at having a happy home.
Says Suchitra S who adopted two rescued Indian dogs Blackie and Coco from the Blue Cross – “It’s about love for animals and not about acquiring status symbols. My dogs are my inspiration”.
The Blue Cross adoptathon is being held at the shelter at 72, Velachery Main Road, Guindy between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, 17 June. All adoptions are free of cost. Call 9952075570 or 9176927917 for details.
