Pune Fashion Designer Creates Reflective Dog Collars That Cost Just Rs. 35

After Chennai took the lead in providing reflective collars for animals, a homegrown initiative in Pune has just launched their first dog collars, for just Rs.35. Saath Saath for animals by activist Sandhya Tewari and her group of animal lovers have created a no velcro, no button and no buckles collar that is made from used jeans and elastic.
A budding designer Saniya Shah has created reflective/ glow-in-the-dark dog collars which aim at safeguarding pets and stray dogs on the road. Tewari, who is also a part of Saath Saath for underprivileged children, has been working and testing this idea since a few months in dogs of different locations. “We rescued some six dogs in the last 15 days who were injured due to accidents. During monsoon, it becomes even more difficult to see the roads clearly and check if an animal is in our way. Many BPO drivers don’t care if they are hitting animals while ferrying people to work, we want to work to make these animals more visible,” she said.
Monitoring the work of Animal Birth Control (ABC) by the municipality to sterilize dogs, Tewari wishes to provide these collars to every dog they catch and sterilize. “When the dogs are caught to sterilize, they don’t get proper post-operative care and languish on the roads. They become weak, hungry and immobile. If we can ensure their safety on the roads by this method, it could be a relief. We also plan on colour-coding these collars with the areas these dogs are from so that dogs can return to their native place. They are territorial by nature and being misplaced could cause agony and turf wars,” she said.
Currently at 100-150 orders, Tewari wishes to donate it to shelters and activists free of cost. “We also want to create a sense of livelihood for the mothers of the children that are a part of Saath Saath. They are tailors but don’t have work. This could be a way for them to earn a livelihood. If we get more funds and support, we should be able to achieve this goal,” she said.
Many companies do provide collars in different forms but this best out of waste way of safeguarding animals gets a thumbs up.

Feature Image Courtesy: gooddogsco.com

Words: Preksha Malu