Date:17/04/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/17/stories/2006041703362000.htm

National

Pedigree is not everything

Sushanta Talukdar

Indian breed dogs are cheaper, healthier

NATIVES ALL: A group of local breed dogs take part in a dog show held in Guwahati on Sunday. — Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

Guwahati: Every dog has its day. Penchi, a stray dog, reached a shelter house-cum-hospital run by People for Animals (PFA), Assam and later found a caring owner in Geeta Bordoloi.

At a show meant exclusively for Indian breed dogs on Sunday, Penchi walked alongside its owner at the Latasil playground here.

A passionate animal lover, Ms. Bordoloi adopted Penchi from the shelter house run by animal rights activist and PFA, Assam chairperson Sangeeta Goswami eight months ago.

"The objective behind organising the show for Indian breed dogs was to make the public aware of the need to care for every dog. Instead of going for a pedigree dog, people can easily adopt an Indian breed, which can easily acclimatise to any climatic condition and is also less expensive. In countries like Germany and France, the Indian breed dogs are very popular as they are healthy and do not fall sick easily like a pedigree," Ms. Goswami said.

She said the show would not only generate interest among animal lovers to adopt Indian breed dogs, but also help prevent streets from being crowded with stray dogs.

Ms. Goswami said animal lovers adopted more than 500 stray and abandoned dogs at her shelter-house during the past one year.

The shelter was built on a plot of five bighas of land allotted to PFA, Assam, which is affiliated to the PFA headed by Maneka Gandhi and has its headquarters in New Delhi.

Other facilities

Other than dogs, the shelter also accommodates sick cows, goats and pigs.

The hospital provides both indoor and outdoor medical facilities for sick animals and is equipped with an operation theatre, an isolation chamber and cages to keep the animals after operation.

The PFA, Assam chose the Latasil playground as the venue for the dog show to spread awareness among children on the need to adopt Indian breed dogs, an organiser said.