Blue Cross of India’s The Great Indian Dog Show 2019
App to adopt Indian mongrels launched at Blue Cross of India’s The Great Indian Dog Show
It was an evening of excited smiles and ‘waggy’ tails at Blue Cross of India’s signature annual event — The Great Indian Dog Show. Held on Independence Day, the 2019 edition saw nearly 5,000 visitors congregate at Phoenix Market City, Velachery, to voice their support for the celebration and dignity of Indian dogs.
They all watched in awe as over 100 adorable Indie dogs (mongrels) sashayed down the ramp with their proud ‘human’ parents. Every animal that went up on stage had an inspiring story of how they found a loving home and lots of love after being on the streets. 32 puppies and 16 kittens that were brought from Blue Cross’ shelter in Velachery were also adopted during the event, giving these orphaned an homeless animals a shot at a comfortable, safe life.
To facilitate the easy adoption of pets henceforth, the organization launched a mobile app — Blue Cross of India (Madras). “People need not wait for such events or to visit the shelter to see which animals are up for adoption anymore. At the click of a button, they can see the puppies, kittens, cats and adult dogs that are waiting to be taken home. This will regularly be updated by the BCI staff,” explained Sanjay S, the head developer of the app and a college student, who volunteers with Blue Cross.
The event was attended by celebrities such as Aditi Balan, who marked her presence at last year’s TGIDS as well. Dev of Vellai Pookal was present too and spoke about his adopted Indian dog, whom his family raised for 14 years. Actor Nakkhul along with his wife Sruti and adopted pooch Oola also participated in the dog show.
“Blue Cross of India has been conducting this event since 1984 and each edition has only become bigger and better. Our mission has always remained the same — to show off that Indian dogs make for as good if not better companions than exotic breeds,” said the NGO’s co-founder Dr. Chinny Krishna. “This time, I was thrilled to see that more than 100 Indie pooches have found good homes and families to look after them,” he added.
TGIDS 2019 was graced by yesteryear actress Amala Akkineni, who founded Blue Cross of Hyderabad. She was one of the judges of the dog show along with Dr. Jayaprakash Ramamurthy, Former Director of Clinics at Madras Veterinary College and one of the most respected veterinarians in Chennai. The panel of judges also had Nishka Choraria, Sales and Marketing Manager of Crest Ventures. She is the daughter of Vijay Choraria, MD of Crest Ventures (one of the developers of Phoenix MarketCity and Palladium).
The sponsors of the event include: Title sponsors – Pets League. Venue and event sponsors – Phoenix MarketCity
Stall sponsors – Drools, Heads Up For Tails, Virbac, Relyon Sutures, Oscar Daisy, Guardian Pharmacy, Indian Immunologicals and Visai Imports and Exports. Digital partner – The Federal. Television partner – Puthiya Thalaimurai. Photography and video partner – Map Films.
Pets League
Pets League is redefining the lives of pets and their caregivers by enhancing the quality of their mutually beneficial relationship through products and services that satisfy the unique needs of each pet and the families that care for them. Its founder Dr. Rajalakshmi Kandaswamy said, “We chose to support Blue Cross and The Great Indian Dog Show because Pets League is in alignment with their endeavor of helping families adopt the unconditionally loving, resilient and loyal Indian mongrels. This resonates with our vision of empowering children with special needs thrive by welcoming loving pets into their families.”
Blue Cross of India
Blue Cross of India is a private and charitable organization, which runs a hospital and rehabilitation centre for injured and unwell stray animals such as dogs, cats, cattle and birds among others. When it was registered in 1964, it became the first of a new genre of animal welfare organisations in India because it cared for all species. BCI’s achievements since then to date include:
- The world’s first ‘catch, neuter, vaccinate and return street dogs’ program, which led to Chennai being declared the first Indian metro to be rabies-free in 2010.
- Strong involvement in rescues, disaster management, rehoming through adoption drives, water bowl projects and other awareness campaigns.
- Many national and international awards
- GuideStar India Platinum Certificate for transparency (since 2015)
The Great Indian Dog Show
The Great Indian Dog Show’s is Blue Cross of India’s brainchild and an event dear to the organization. Its main objective is to embrace Indian dogs — aka Indie dogs — and foster a community that is not only empathetic but celebrates our strays while upholding the ‘Adopt, don’t shop’ motto. BCI has years of animal rescue experience behind them and will continue to strive to make such adoption initiatives reach more people.
