QUEEN'S ROAD: Bambi, a dog adopted from the streets of Bengaluru, has been crowned the winner of the fourth annual ‘Cutest Indian Dog Alive’ contest organised by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Bambi, whose guardian is Aishwarya Radhakrishna, beat out nine other finalists. She had earlier edged out hundreds of other Indian breeds to reach the final. PETA holds the contest to encourage adoption of Indian dogs from the streets or animal shelters. The second place went to Kaya, of Krithika Lakshminarayanan of Chennai, while Sheroo of Ranjeeta Nath Ghai of Allahabad, came in third.
PETA CEO Poorva Joshipura said, “Bambi proves that adopting a dog from the streets or from an animal shelter can fill your life with joy and love that words can’t express. But although Bambi has won our contest, all the rescued dogs are winners because they have found loving homes.”
Aishwarya said, “She (Bambi) was hardly 10 days old when we picked her up with the intention of putting her up for adoption. But when we learnt that this pup was thrown on the streets deliberately by a neighbour, we decided to keep her with us for a few days.”
On their part, PETA urged people to adopt Indian animals instead of buying puppies or kittens from pet shops or breeders. As pedigree dogs are bred for certain exaggerated physical traits, such as long ears or drooping backs, many foreign breeds suffer from breathing problems, cancer, heart disease, bleeding disorders, skeletal malformation and eye problems. Compared to them, Indian dogs are healthier and more robust.