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The National Pet Day 2020 is a bit uncanny as it overlaps with a nation-wide lockdown. We bring you some tales from pet-owners as they tell us about their tailed-friends.

COVID-19 has been the most dramatic plot twist in 2020 as WFH (Work From Home) and silent streets become a part of our lives. While quarantine hasn’t been a welcoming change to some, our whiskered friends have some concerns and views about staying with their humans all day long. We understood that it would be hard to understand how they feel, so we rather asked some pet owners about their quaran-time with their pets.

“Quarantine is definitely a change for Jugnu because he sits in my room when I am at college. He is really surprised to see me at home all day long!
Whenever I am busy mopping the floor, he comes around to give me the social support I need. He gets busy with the broom or the mop, looking at him play, reduces all the workload. He is a constant companion during the online classes. He walks over the keyboard when I type my assignments but that is fine!
In a nutshell, I am never alone, he is the only one keeping me sane during these times”

– Anusha Khan (Mr. Jugnu’s Human)

Image Credits: Anusha Khan Image Caption: Anusha with Mr. Jugnu
Image Credits: Anusha Khan
Image Caption: Anusha with Mr. Jugnu

“Scampy has been the happiest and fattest bitch I know! She goes from one room to another to get loved. Once a person is tired, she switches rooms. She is being fed so much more than necessary.
The only time I go out of the house is when I walk her for two kilometres, twice a day. I think those are my favourite four hours of the day. She is the only one giving me purpose right now.”

– Shyla Sharma (Miss Scampy’s Human)

Image Credits: Shyla Sharma Image Captions: Shyla with Mr. Scampy
Image Credits: Shyla Sharma
Image Captions: Shyla with Mr. Scampy

“For starters, whenever the family gets down together to play a game like cards or ludo, she wants to be included as well so she brings her ball, her way to tell us that she wants to play!
She is loving the fact that everyone is at home and is always in a cuddly mood. Even though the whole family isn’t together all the time, she is satisfied that we’re all under the same roof.
One day when my parents went to buy the groceries, they took Misty as well. When they returned, Misty literally tried to pull dad’s mask off so that she could lick his face- as a gesture to thank him for taking her out for a drive.
But I remember the time she got scared and shivered a lot when the crackers were burst on 22March and 5 April respectively.”

– Rhea D’Souza (Miss Misty’s Human)

Image Credits: Rhea D'Souza for DU Beat Image Caption: Rhea with Mr. Misty
Image Credits: Rhea D’Souza for DU Beat
Image Caption: Rhea with Miss Misty

“I have a nine months old cat. She is super loving and very cuddly, contrary to what most people think about felines. Since she is an indoor cat, I do not face the problem of not being able to take her for regular walks or as such. However, she clearly likes having her alone time (haha). But now that everyone’s at home, I don’t know how it is for her. For me, I’m super happy. With a hectic college routine, I couldn’t give her as much time, now, it’s all hers. I’m around her the entire day. I am ten times happier since I am around her. I wonder once this period is over and my routine resumes, how much I’m going to miss her!”

– Ashwini Iyer (Miss Meow’s Human)

Image Credits: Ashwini Iyer for DU BEAT Image Caption: Ashwini with Miss Meow
Image Credits: Ashwini Iyer for DU BEAT
Image Caption: Ashwini with Miss Meow

This unusual National Pet Day, give your pets the purr-fect gift – your time, belly rubs and boops! DU Beat wishes you a very Happy National Pet Day!

Featured Image Credits: Priyanshi Banerjee for DU BEAT

Priyanshi Banerjee

[email protected]

From the poised, purring cats of Miranda House to the tail-wagging, sunny dogs of Jesus and Mary College, the collective adoption of campus cats and dogs by college students evokes pawfuls of pure joy.

Canteen specialties, daunting cut-offs, the area undergoing eternal construction and the inconspicuous niches (that allegedly only you and your clique know about) are some things that lend to the identity of a college. But, perhaps, the most aw-inducing of these peculiarities that characterize the day-to-day life in a college is the stray animals that are no longer stray and have found a dwelling in the campuses of different University of Delhi (DU) Colleges.

Along with the haggling auto-vala bhaiyas, hassling security-vala bhaiya, the forgiving canteen staff, and the red-bricked buildings, these animals become a permanent fixture for our colleges. The poised and dignified cats of Miranda House have been chronicled generously over the years and have been immortalized as an essential part of the institution.

The dogs who roll over for impromptu coddling and banish the woes of a morning lecture, and the cats who’s snarky yet validating meow adds a spring to your step, are appreciated by all. Across colleges, students adopt the initiative to care for these beings and instate them as campus pets.

Take the instance of Harman Mangat, a second-year B.A (Honours) English student from Jesus and Mary College (JMC), who started the Instagram page, ‘dogsofjmc’. The page conceived at the beginning of the year hosts about a hundred posts featuring the campus dogs; Draupadi, Leo, Shakuntala and her newly-born pups, accompanied by quirky captions and meme layouts. The account has amassed over two hundred followers with its wholesome content.

dog3 - Copy
Image Credits- Harman Mangat, Jesus and Mary College (dogsofjmc on Instagram) Image Caption- The campus dogs of Jesus and Mary College in their natural element

The campus dogs of Jesus and Mary College in their natural element  Image Credits- Harman Mangat, Jesus and Mary College (dogsofjmc on Instagram)

She also took up the billet, along with a couple of her friends, to look after the dogs. “When I first met the campus dogs, I was taken by their cuteness and wanted everybody to adore them. I also felt the fervent need to protect them, come hell or high water,” said Harman. The dogs are quite independent and are provided with water in terracotta pots and boiled food by the college students. The earthen dishes are regularly washed to avoid the growth of algae or bacteria. A house was made out of a cardboard carton but was demolished immediately, upon completion by the canines, an enamored Harman added.

To provide regularity and structure to the fostering of JMC dogs as well as to pacify the college administration, Vanee Singh, a third-year B.A. Programme student, came up with the noble idea of ‘JMCanines’. The initiative, still in its nascence, possesses long term objectives that include getting the puppies vaccinated, the female dogs neutered and establishing a fixed feeding schedule. Vanee hopes on the solidarity and compassion of the students to further this endeavor.

Feature Image Credits– Harman Mangat, Jesus and Mary College (dogsofjmc on Instagram)

Prisha Saxena

[email protected]

 

College can be tough. Coming into the real world, with real responsibilities and a wide array of people can sometimes take its toll on even the best. While nobody is expected to instantaneously find people they get along with, this period of meeting and discovering new people can take its toll mentally. It is a period when you miss the familiarity of school and school friends the most. Coping with this transition can be hard, some turn to family, some to old friends, and some to four-legged furballs.

 

Colleges are known to treat animals with the utmost love and respect and even have internal societies or (external) non-profit organizations set up who actively take of these animals. Colleges like Lady Shri Ram college in South Delhi have animal non-profit organisations as a part of their National Service Scheme Programme (eg, Fiappo) as well as an internal animal welfare society that takes care of the food and overall health needs of animals on campus.

Image Credits: Friendicoes, LSR
Image Credits: Friendicoes, LSR

Many have found solace in the company of these on campus buddies, especially those with pets who find themselves in a different city, starting life over as an adult. Drawing from personal experience, having to leave your pet behind can be as difficult as having to shift out of home for the very first time. I, as well as many known to me have often found ourselves wanting to escape human interaction at times. Hot chai and the company of Batman, the friendly campus dog, are like therapy for the soul. Sunshine, Oreo and Hazel (among many others), are some of the stars that frequent the classrooms and grounds of Lady Shri Ram College, on the lookout for someone in need for unconditional love. Having a bad day? Missing home? Had a fight with a friend? No problem! If no one else, there are definitely a few you can make happy (who will return the favour) with something as simple as a belly rub, and they’ll repay you with warm licks (read as: kisses).

Image Credits: Friendicoes, LSR
Image Credits: Friendicoes, LSR

As time goes by, you also notice people who once terrified of animals, melt, by the overwhelming amount of love these friendly felines have to offer. What once was a scream when something fuzzy rubbed up against your legs in the canteen, now becomes a shriek of excitement on being visited by an old friend.

College hostels house some of our friends as well as some of our animals, who unlike humans, enjoy the perks of shelter and food, free of cost. Our college hostel is home to many cats, fed on a steady diet of milk, ensuring their return as company. These animals influence our lives to the extent that they may even find their way into college graffiti or society logos, shedding light on their important position in our lives. While not everyone may end college as an animal fan, but for the most of us, they become more than friends, they become family.

Image Credits: Friendicoes, LSR
Image Credits: Friendicoes, LSR

Feature Image Credits: Action for Animal Welfare

Meher Gill
[email protected] 

 

If you have furry pets in your campus too, send us an article with pictures, explaining how these friends have made life in college easier for you! Mail your pieces at [email protected]

The third annual edition of PetFed, India’s biggest Pet festival was held in New Delhi on 17th-18th December, 2016 at the NSIC Grounds, Okhla.  About 25000 people and 2500 pets attended it over the weekend. This was one of a kind festival which celebrated the love and affection between the pets and their owners.

This festival saw the top-notch services and products essential for pets and had a fashion show exclusively for pets, setting new standards in the pet fashion world. The showstopper for the same was Dino Morea, a model, actor and an animal lover.  In a conversation with DU Beat, he urged people to “adopt a stray dog in the new year.”

PetFed 2016 also had a special art gallery for dogs, an all exclusive cafe for dogs serving ‘dog beers and pizzas’, pet bakeries and swings and rides for dogs! The 3 acre lush green area brimming with cute pooches could brighten up anyone’s weekend. Each pet had its own unique story which made us laugh. So without further adieu, we bring to you 5 stories of pets from PetFed 2016:

1.Chanel ( Jack Russell Terrier, 2 year old)

chanel

“She is very protective and possessive of me, so much so that she never lets me pet her sister. We named her Chanel because she is as classy and pretty as the French label.”

  1. Bunny (Beagle, 2 year old)

bunny

“Bunny is territorial when it comes to the couch and it’s a sight to behold how he sleeps in this one peculiar position. He loves chocolates and even though its bad for him, once I while I have to give in. We named him Bunny after Ranbir Kapoor’s character in Ye Jawani Hai Deewani.”

  1. Thunder (Siberian Husky, 1.5 year old)

tthunder

“Thunder loves to hug other dogs, but if they don’t respond similarly he gets hurt. He looks extra riveting because he’s dichromatic. He gets lots of attention.”

  1. Coco( Chihuahua, 3 year old)

coco-kabootar-wala

“He absolutely hates pigeons and has taken up the responsibility of guarding my mother’s garden from them. Also, he’s quite an intelligent dog and even protects the pigeon eggs when pigeon mom is not around!”

  1. Joey (Maltese Shih Tzu, 2 months old)

joye

“He is named after my favourite FRIENDS character, ‘Joey’. He playfully bites everything that comes his way and is super-comfortable around girls but not around guys!”

 

Image Credits: Prateek Bedi and Vibhana Kanwar for DU Beat

 

Nidhi Panchal

[email protected]

Niharika Dabral

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