‘Bow Bow Fest’, the street dog adoption camp, organised by the Kozhikode Corporation in association with Calicut Animal Rescuers and Encouragers (CARE) and People for Animals (PFA Calicut), witnessed enthusiastic participation with people turning up in large numbers at the Tagore Centenary Hall on Monday.
“We had brought 80 puppies and gave away 70 of them. This was quite unexpected,” said Derrick Paul, a volunteer of CARE, who was overseeing the adoption process. “There were many takers for the street dogs, some of them were brought from the Animal Birth Control Centre of the Corporation while we had brought some too,” he said.
Some people even brought puppies from the street with them and handed them over to the organisers on the spot. “They brought the puppies in cardboard boxes and as soon as the boxes were opened, some were booked by participants,” said Mr. Paul.
The animals were handed over to the new owners after being vaccinated. The ownership certificates will be issued later.
However, some dogs that did not look healthy, especially those with bite marks on them, had fewer takers. “It is about the mindset of the people. Even these puppies will look healthy and cute if they are properly taken care of for a week or two. They have better immunity than the higher breed dogs and half the care people give to higher breeds can do wonders to these street puppies,” said Mr. Paul.
Similarly, there were fewer takers for female puppies. The organisers said people did not want them as there were chances of them getting pregnant. “This is a problem that can be avoided if the Corporation assured them of free sterilisation of the adopted puppies after six months,” added Mr. Paul.
Mayor Beena Philip, health standing committee chairperson S. Jayasree and other councillors visited the camp. The camp is the brain child of Corporation Veterinary Officer V.S. Sreeshma, who is also heading the civic body’s ABC Centre.
