Gurgaon dog lovers indulge in some puppy love

Inspired by an online video, Gurgaonwallahs spread awareness about stray animals by tying balloons with messages written on them, to stray dogs
Recently, a heart-warming video of two Chilean girls tying balloons with messages on them to stray dogs went viral on YouTube. The video, called I am here! is an initiative to draw attention to stray dogs, and introduces itself as “an urban intervention that seeks to raise awareness about the reality of animals living on the streets”.The four-and-a-half minute clip, that highlights the need to treat stray animals with love and affection, seems to have inspired Gurgaonwallahs, who recently did something similar in the Galleria market. Some residents of the Millennium City went around the market, tying balloons with messages on them to the stray dogs in the area.
“We saw this video of two girls in Chile, who transformed the way people see dogs on the streets by tying balloons to their necks with some messages for people. The messages said things like ‘hug me’, ‘don’t abandon me’, etc. We thought it was a good idea to remind people about the dogs on the streets, who need love just like the pets in our houses, and this video was our inspiration. It is important to remind people about the small and simple things that can spread happiness. We started with a few dogs in Galleria. But there were people who opposed us, asking why we were using animals to spread a message, and said that we were making the dogs uncomfortable. But we are planning to do this soon in another area, in a more planned way,” said Abhinav Mathur, 26, who works as an engineer with an MNC.
Nikita Bhardwaj, 37, another dog lover, said, “Whenever I go out, I see street dogs being ill-treated. These dogs are like abandoned babies, who crave for love and attention. Recently, I did the same thing in Sector 56 HUDA market, along with a few kids. The kids played with the dogs, and we all had a great time.”
"And this time, I tied the balloon with a satin ribbon instead of thread, so that it doesn’t cause any discomfort to the dogs. These balloons helped these dogs get some attention, petting and food, and it was totally worth the effort.”
“Generally, people are scared of dogs and refrain from getting close to them. So, we thought writing messages like ‘Feed me’, ‘Hug me’, etc, may help them get some love. The idea is to get them some food, love and attention that most of us can give, but just don’t realise it,” added Jayant Vyas, 28, who works with Mindlance.
“One of my friends told me about what this group has been doing, and it got me really interested. I don’t have a pet because my parents never agreed to let me keep one, so I usually go to my friend’s house and play with his pet. This sounded exciting, and there was hardly anything that we needed to do. So, my friend and I got some food from home, and went to the nearby market in the evening, and had a great time with these stray dogs. Since it was for a good cause, I didn’t have to give it a second thought. Now, we have decided to do this at a few other places as well, where we usually spot stray dogs being ill-treated,” added Tarun Singh, 25, student.