Thanks to the spare time our residents had during the lockdown period to cultivate few new hobbies like gardening, adopting a pet at home. Now that the offices are open, the “time pass” activity of the same residents is now resulting in shelling out huge money. As we all know that once you keep pets at home, they will soon become part of the family and get associated with the whole family. The family needs to take care of them as their children and also pamper them with toys, delicious food, SPA, long walks etc. The vaccination, safety and security are also important as few rare breeds may cost you more than a lakh!
What is the issue faced by “Pet Parents”?
- Morning, afternoon & evening walk to keep them fit and also to Pooh
- Timely food with variety every day including non-veg food etc
- Winter clothing, special utensils, Dog-food, Dog-house, etc; Regular vaccination, check-up, medicines
- Day-care person if both persons are working; sometimes care for few days if travelling abroad/outstation
- There are cases of dog-bites, fights over pet in the colony
Why it is difficult to provide the above facilities?
- The young couples hardly have time after long office hours to wake up early in morning to take the dogs for walk. They need to hire dog walkers who have started charging huge money due to demand from many residents. The charges started from Rs. 100 per hour are now up to 400-500 per hour;
- The Dog walkers are sometimes careless and dogs get lost due to unleashing them for walks; they never carry any Pooh-bag etc to clear the roads;
- The Dog food is also costly to feed 1-2 pets every day; it may cost more than any adult food cost!!
- The Couples also can’t travel as they used to do pre-Covid as there are strict rules in the trains, Air and hotels
The number of pets multiplied in the last 2-3 years, which is also a reason for increasing spread in pooh all over the colony; the back lanes are generally used as toilets for the pets and there is no one to clean the pooh for many days. The Dog lover needs persons who can give bath to the pets, walk them and stay at home during the office hours for which charges are higher than even a normal maid. We are not trying to suggest residents not to keep pets but only requesting them to keep pets if you have time for them. These animals need lot of attention, love and care at all times, no point keeping pets for just selfies or to who off as the casual care may result in various issues not only for the family but also for other residents.
Lastly, if you are really a Pet lover, make sure there is no pooh spread on colony roads, service lanes, parks etc as there are many who are not dog friendly and using these places for walks etc. Pl. do carry or ask your dog walkers to carry pooh bag to clean the roads as and when required.
by Ajay Kumar (A-440, 9999055994)
