pet owners

Bengaluru

animal rights

If one were to keep constant track of all the battlesoffight for, or even count the sheer number of pet stores in the city, it would come as no surprise if the city was considered to be most pet friendly in India. In fact, a recent survey proves it even. Conducted among 1,500-plus pet owners across the country, Bengaluru has taken the lead, closely followed by Mumbai. Bengaluru leads the pack at 20 per cent with Mumbai at 18 per cent. Hyderabad and Delhi unfortunately were at 12.5 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.Some of the other data that has emerged from this research is that 14.5 per cent of those surveyed say that their cities are not pet-friendly, owing to the lack of facilities. And while nearly 70 per cent pet owners in India said their cities are moderately pet-friendly, only 12.4 percent claimed that their cities are completely pet-friendly. According to India International Pet Trade Fair (IIPTF), 600,000 pets are adopted every year in India.Some of the reasons that came up during the survey as to why cities don’t have as many pets as they can, which were brought up by 60 per cent of the surveyed population, included lack of parks and open spaces for animals and dogs not being allowed in rented apartments.“Indian cities do well enough on the pet-ready scale in terms of access to basic pet services such as vets and pet products,” says Vidha Shukla, founder of pet accessories brand Lana Paws, which had conducted the survey. “While this is heartening, it seems that we still need to go a long way in ensuring more pet-friendly attitudes as well as open spaces such as parks, in every neighbourhood.” Shukla adds that stronger networks of pet parents in neighbourhoods may help cities open up further in terms of being accepting of pet dogs and having better infrastructure for them.Another interesting fact emerged during this survey. Over 60 per cent of respondents were unhappy with the lack of attention given by local authorities to controlling the population of stray dogs and taking care of their health through annual vaccinations. Nearly 95 per cent also said that their local authorities needed to run structured programmes to sensitise children to be kind and have empathy towards animals. “A comprehensive plan for stray dogs and sensitizing kids regarding proper behavior has the potential to bring down cases of dog bites and conflict,” Shukla adds. Nonetheless, 70 per cent felt that humans and stray dogs had learnt to co-exist in most neighbourhoods, with some taking care of them and others causing problems.