This weekend, a few mall-goers in the city might go home with more than their regular shopping; they might welcome a new member to their families. Blue Cross of India is once again organising an Adoptathon at Express Avenue, Royapettah.
Over 50 rescue puppies and 25 kittens will be waiting for a new home at the mall’s atrium. “We wanted to make sure that people adopt Indian rescue animals and give them the love they deserve,” says R Siva, a vet with BCI who was part of the team behind the initiative. “Most people want to keep pedigree foreign dogs without realising how tough it is for them to survive in this weather,” he adds.
The families wishing to adopt the rescues will be given a brief training on pet-care. “All the pets have been de-wormed, de-ticked and are healthy,” says Siva adding that BCI would provide free consultation, sterilisation and first vaccination for them.
This is the sixth time that BCI is organising an adoption drive at a mall. “We hold adoption drives at the Blue Cross office but through this initiative, we wanted to attract the kind of people who don’t usually frequent BCI. Vacation time is normally optimum as the footfall in malls is the most then,” says Siva.
Encouraged by the Adoptathon’s success in previous malls — In Phoenix MarketCity last year, all of the 30 dogs were adopted — Siva claims BCI is planning to make Adoptathon a monthly event in the next few months.
However, adoption drives at malls attract all kinds of people including the less serious or impulsive ones. “In the previous years, we have had cases where people would return the pets because they weren’t ready for that kind of responsibility, making up all sorts of excuses,” reveals Siva. To combat this, BCI’s volunteers will be handing out a questionnaire to people to make sure that the adopters are prepared and also follow up with them after the pets have been adopted. “Having said that, all we want to do is make sure all of them have a loving family,” says Siva.
The Adoptathon will be held at Express Avenue, Royapettah on May 27 from 4 pm onwards.
