Timmy was a constant near the Gravity Inn Hotel in Silicon City, Indore for years. His jet-black appearance made him unmissable. When the canine wasn’t commanding his troupe as the ringleader, one could spot him scouting for food. Being a stray, treats were hard to come by. But at 10 am sharp, all activity would cease and the dogs’ ears would perk up.
For years, you see, they had a regular visitor in Rimjhim Joshi Shende, who had moved to Silicon City in 2013. The treats, food, and biscuits Rimjhim brought along would be relished and downed in a matter of minutes by the hungry audience.
But one morning, when Rimjhim looked for Timmy, he was nowhere to be found. “I knew he had been having some trouble moving around,” Rimjhim explains. “The locals told me that he’d been hit by a vehicle the previous night while lying on the side of the road.” The driver had taken time to check up on the dog, even splashing water on his wounds. “But, then they left, not seeing what more they could do at that hour of the night,” Rimjhim shares, recalling what was relayed to her.
The incident spotlighted how negligence wasn’t the only culprit for dogs being hurt in road accidents. A blend of factors — including dim street lighting, venturing into the middle of busy roads, and low visibility — are often to blame, Rimjhim concluded. While successful in tracking down a “very hurt Timmy” and having him treated for his injuries, she knew the problem had to be tackled with a different mindset.
Today, Rimjhim credits this thought as the precursor to ‘Pawsitivity’, an initiative that manufactures QR-enabled reflective collars and has helped over 20 lakh dogs and cattle across the country. This beneficiary toll is (ironically) low juxtaposed with the uptick in the number of strays in India.
And this is where you play a role.
Save dogs from road accidents with just Rs 40
It’s a tale as old as time, one of the volunteers, Nikhil Zope tells me. In most road accidents, dogs and cattle serve as collateral damage. Nikhil’s claims are backed by statistics. In 2013, Chandigarh reported that more than 1,600 stray animals in the Tricity area had been injured in road accidents; while Nagpur witnessed as many as 11,915 similar cases between 2011 and 2019.
But recent reports refute the theory that animals are the only victims in these crashes. The ramifications go both ways, they suggest. In 2022, Haryana reported 900 deaths due to road accidents caused by stray cattle. Data from the ACKO Accident Index (2022) also revealed that, across six megacities, stray animals were the second biggest cause of accidents.
What if we told you that your donation has the power to cap these fatalities? This Valentine’s Day, simply donate Rs 40 to ensure that a stray dog is fitted with a reflective collar.
The advantages of the collar go beyond curbing road accidents. Elaborating on the collar, Rimjhim says its QR code-enabled design helps encode essential information about the dog. This includes the name (if it has one), approximate age, vaccination history, medical history, and location. “It can be scanned by anyone who finds the dog, enabling them to access crucial details about the animal’s health and help reunite lost dogs with their feeders,” she shares. In areas where mass vaccination and sterilisation drives are conducted, the collars help track dates and details to prevent duplication of medical treatments.
They also come in handy during the festive season, says Seema Tank, a 43-year-old Animal Welfare Officer from Maharashtra. “We see that during the festive season, firecrackers cause a lot of panic and disorientation in dogs. So these QR collars help reconnect the lost animals to their caretakers or NGOs,” she shares.
Reflective collars: a boon for dogs
Jabalpur is an epicentre for major highways that bridge Indian cities. There is hardly a time of day or night when traffic isn’t speeding here. Volunteers who feed stray dogs in this neighbourhood would often hear — and see — dogs and cattle losing their lives in road accidents near the highway.
But this is now changing, they tell Rimjhim, crediting Pawsitivity’s collars. “Earlier, the mindset was that the collar is a luxury for these dogs, but volunteers have now understood that it is a necessity,” Rimjhim explains.
From a driver’s standpoint too, they learnt that the collars are getting widespread acceptance. Drivers in areas where animals are fitted with collars say they no longer feel as anxious about the risk of harming them. Rimjhim smiles as she shares that the circle of good extends to underprivileged women from different communities in Indore who are involved in making the collars.
Since 2019, Pawsitivity has been offering training and machines to these women, enabling them to work from home. “We pay them per piece, and they usually earn anywhere from 15,000 to 18,000 rupees per month, depending on how many collars they make. During the festive season, the demand increases, and they earn even more. Currently, 12 women are working with Pawsitivity,” Rimjhim shares.
The organisation plans to expand as the business continues to grow by orders of magnitude.
Meanwhile, in the Silicon City of Indore, a black dog enjoys his afternoon siesta. No one refers to Timmy as the stray dog of the locality anymore. With his shiny red collar, he now has a sense of belonging.
This Valentine’s Day, we urge you to help us give 5,000 dogs across India this same sense of belonging with just Rs 40. Let’s spread the love and give these pups ‘fur-ever’ protection.
Edited by Khushi Arora; All images courtesy Rimjhim Joshi Shende
