Turning dog's best friend

IT WAS every bit a special gathering. Dogs of various sizes, ranging from puppies to dogs, snuggling in bags and boxes arrived by car.

The venue: Blue Cross of India's Velachery premises. The occasion: an unusual show celebrating mongrels.

The pets started arriving from 3 p.m. onwards, in the care of their masters and the event attracted about 100 pet owners.

The majority of them said they had picked up their pet from the street or dustbins, saving it from abandonment, while a few were adopted from the Blue Cross Shelter in Adyar.

At the show, the dogs were divided into five categories : puppies below one year, males sterilised, males non-sterilised, females sterilised and females non-sterilised. In each category five prizes were distributed. Dogs aged above 10 years were placed in a special category.

Besides this, three old pets received the `Hero of the Day' award. Chottu - one of the heroes, was instrumental in nabbing some gangsters. Owned by a dhobi, it was abandoned but found a new home after being rescued by a dog lover. Yet another was Brahma, which was born with three legs only. Still it does guard the house faithfully, says Mrs. K. Yagnaprabha, the pet owner. The story of `Pluto' is different. The entire Abhiramapuram 3rd Street is protected by its watchful eyes, the owners claim proudly.Though there was a huge crowd of pets inside the sprawling Blue Cross campus, there was little noise. It was a rare sight to watch the group of mongrels keeping quiet, despite coming from different areas and some of them were even shy in a heavily crowded place, says Ms.Vasanthi Rajiv, a Blue Cross volunteer.

There was no `dog walking' show or exercise such as obedience and agility trials, perfect postures and shapes for the participants. The best dog was selected, based on the health condition of the animals, says Mr. Chinni Krishna, Vice-Chairman, Blue Cross of India.

The pets not only won prizes for themselves but for their owners too. A lucky draw was conducted at the end of the programme, under which a number of participating dogs were chosen at random. The prize was a free membership coupon in a bowling alley.

(By P. Oppili)

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Section  : Entertainment