The parents of Nandini, a class III student from Adambakkam, wanted to get her a puppy as a birthday gift, while pet lover Keerthi from Thoraipakkam wanted to find a good home for three 45-day-old male puppies she had rescued from the streets.
For several pet lovers like them, Blue Cross of India at Velachery was the place to be on Sunday afternoon, as around 70 dogs, including several Indian pups and adult abandoned pedigree dogs as well as kittens, were up for adoption at the Adoptathon. “I regularly foster abandoned pups. I already have seven dogs at home and recently found three abandoned puppies. I brought them here so I could find them a nice, caring home,” said Keerthi. She has named the puppies after characters in Jungle Book – Mowgli, Baloo, the bear and Bageera, the panther.
Abhinaya, another pet lover, brought two female puppies she had found under her car nearly two weeks ago. “Pets are definitely my stress buster. If I am worried about something, I play with my two pets — a country dog, Tiger and pug called Simba — and I forget all my worries,” said this doctor.
A sense of excitement accompanied every pet lover, who took a pup or kitten home. Jagan Avinash, a class VIII student, was one of them. “We had a pet dog but it died. We have adopted a puppy now. I am so excited,” he said.
Michael, a resident of Sriperumbudur, had come to the camp as his two sons had forced him to, and adopted a pair of puppies, while Nandini tagged along with her mother Usha picking up puppies and trying to select one. Tara and her son adopted a kitten at the camp.
Uma, who had brought six rescued puppies to the camp, wanted to ensure proper care for the adopted pets. She kept telling pet lovers to call her at any time in case of doubts about diet or health.
“Over the past two years, awareness about adopting Indian dogs has increased. People understand that Indian dogs are easy to take care of,” said Priya Kalidindi, a senior volunteer at Blue Cross.
A total of 66 puppies, eight kittens and five adult pedigree dogs were adopted at the camp.
