Adopt the Indian loyalty

Picked up from streets, the pups are vaccinated, treated, if needed, and kept at the stall for adoption. More than 3,000 dogs and pups have been adopted at the stall – Puppy Love – started in 2008 by Maneka Gandhi’s People For Animals (PFA) foundation with an idea of Be Indian, Keep Indian.

Recently, six puppies were rescued from drainage in Paschim Vihar area and taken to one of PFA’s shelters.

“We provide free de-worming and lifetime rabies and tetanus vaccinations for any pup adopted from here. Since 2008, about 3,000 dogs have been adopted. The idea is to give our dogs a shelter and promote them,” says Pradeep Singh, outsourcing manager, PFA.

He further adds, “We don’t give our pets to everybody. People living on rented accommodation have to bring an NOC from their landlord before adopting our pups. And people, especially students, living as paying guests, can't adopt because they abandon them while moving back to their home towns.”

Pradeep also points out that calling them ‘stray’ is not done. “If you leave any non-Indian breed dog on road it would be called a stray dog too.”

A follow up is done to know if the adopted puppies are being properly looked after or not. “We visit and see if the pups are being taken care of. There have been instances where people did not keep them with affection and care and we brought them back,” informs Pradeep, who devotes time at the stall since its inception.

The stall, set up every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, has ailing dogs too who have been abandoned due to their illness or other reasons. “There are people who keep dogs as a fashion statement and abandon them at the time of their illness. We keep them for adoption after their treatment,” Pradeep further informs Metrolife.

Shilpa Chaudhary, who assists Maneka Gandhi in her works for PFA, says every week around eight-ten dogs are adopted. “Even if people don't want to adopt, there is a rush of onlookers to see the puppies playing and fighting,” she observes.

Though the concept receives a thumbs-up from animal lovers, some express their reluctance in adopting the dogs of Indian breeds as they grow big in size unlike most of the pedigree dogs. “The concept of adopting Indian dogs is good but I would not prefer them because they grow very fast and very large,” says Kusum Rawat, a resident of R K Puram and a dog lover.

Pradeep, on the contrary feels that the maintenance of Indian dogs is far less than those of other breeds. “Pedigree dogs are born out of forced or artificial breeding. They are very costly also. On the other hand, Indian dogs are born naturally and can survive on roads without food for many days,” he argues.

The stall also offers kittens and rabbits that are preferred over dogs because they are easy to maintain.