Furry delights! Annual dog show returns after 2 years

Chennai: Two years after the pandemic, the Blue Cross of India (BCI) conducted its annual event — The Great Indian Dog Show 2022 on Sunday, where 149 dogs participated.

The motto of this event is to promote adoption of native Indian breeds while also preventing the purchase of foreign/mixed breeds due to the exploitative nature of the industry.

This is the 33rd edition of the show since its origin in 1987. There are 28 categories including best sterilised male and female, rarest colour, naughtiest dog, survivor dog, the wackiest name/dog, and friendliest dog.

Samrithi adopted her 7-month-old canine during the lockdown. As he was indoor for almost two years, he was reserved. “We wanted him to mingle with other dogs and people, that’s why we brought him here,” she said.

The canines were dressed up in all their revelry and walked the ramp with their owners at the event conducted at a Phoenix Mall in Velachery. All the dogs that took part in the show received a medal, certificate and a bag of goodies.

“Though there’s a rise in adoption of dogs across the country, often, people don’t understand that the dogs outside their own doorsteps deserve a home too. You don’t have to pay thousands of rupees to buy a breed,” said Vinod Kumar, general manager, BCI.

BCI combined the pet dog show with an adoption drive for Indie puppies, kittens and adult dogs from their abandoned animals’ section. They had over 100 animals, of which more than 30 were adopted.