Giving pets a holiday from Deepavali noise

For Aditya Venkatraman, his Labrador, named Jack Daniel, is no less a family member and during the festive season, he ensures that Jack feels safe. “I had to stop the other residents of the building where I used to stay to stop bursting crackers inside the premises. Instead, I asked them to burst all the noisy fireworks on the road. I know I can’t stop them from doing what they want. Since the festival comes on a weekend, I am planning to go away from the city and go to a pet friendly resort,” he says. 

Door-to-door campaigns, asking people to avoid crackers are also underway by many. “Crackers are a huge waste of money. We are a week away from Deepavali, and I have spoken to all the 30 members of my apartment requesting them not to burst loud crackers. Fortunately, most of them have agreed,” says Anjana C, a resident of Sholinganallur. The option of going away on a holiday from the city, with the pet is gaining ground.  Shravan Krishna of Hotels for Dogs, says, “People booked with us three months ago. This time, we have 65 dogs from Chennai and 80 from Bengaluru.”

This is also the season when a number of pets go missing or end up getting injured. The deafening sound of the crackers scares them and they end up running out of the house and are eventually lost. The group, Tamilnadu Flood - Support which started last year during the floods, has continued the work ever since on various social issues. “We have started The Big Bright “Boom Free” Deepavali, wherein we are organising various events and reaching out to people through rallies and street plays. Many pets go missing during this time and we are working on ways to help the pets and their owners,” says Anand Vaidyanathan of TN Flood support.