On Diwali-eve, 38 furry participants strutted down the service road from Biswa Bangla Gate to the community centre along with their human parents.
Leading the way was commissioner of Bidhannagar Police Gaurav Sharma and others members of the commissionerate top brass.
The parents carried banners and messages to create awareness against bursting of crackers. One asked people to plant a tree instead. A banner had a dog making the appeal, pointing out how much of a torture the noise was for them.
On reaching the NKDA community hall, they settled down on the ground floor banquet hall. Police officials spoke of the ill effects of firecrackers on animals, including the cruel pranks played on streetdogs. The police commissioner urged everyone to shun polluting crackers and shift to green crackers instead for the sake of a greener earth. Deputy commissioner, New Town, Manav Singla said human beings, having the gift of speech, should be vocal on behalf of creatures that could not speak.
The dogs were gifted a backpack, a ball to play with and some treats.
Participants at the NKDA Community Centre at the end of the rally
“It was a great experience,” said Sucharita Das, a schoolteacher from DA Block in Action Area I, who had come with her nine-year-old son, 16-year-old daughter and two-and-a half-year-old Dalmatian Candy. She was even happier that Diwali night in New Town turned out to be tolerably peaceful.
Sukla Chatterjee of Elita Garden Vista in Action Area III also came with her husband and Shih Tzu Coco as she felt strongly about the cause. “The kind of noise that fireworks create is bad not just for cats and dogs but for human babies too. It is sad that when I posted pictures of the awareness rally in our residents’ group, some people objected, wondering why I had posted on a matter not having to do directly with the complex. One even quipped that the rally was irrelevant for them as they were not pet owners. They did not understand that the whole point of the rally was to make people who were not pet parents understand the plight of these voiceless creatures when they indulge themselves with noisy crackers,” she said.
Assistant commissioner, New Town Shreya Sarkar, who played a leading role in organising the event, said: “This is the third pet-friendly awareness event being conducted by the Bidhannagar Commissionerate. We had organised similar events ahead of both Diwali and Holi in the community zone under the Axis Mall flyover,” said the pet parent, living next to Eco Park, who was delighted that her three-year-old Labrador Paantu did not have to hide under the bed on Diwali night. “This year, New Town was almost noise-free,” she said on Wednesday.
