BENGALURU :The campaign against BBMP’s pet laws has not only brought people in the city
together, but also attracted the attention of the people in the other cities. Shikhar Agrawal, a 30-year-old Delhite, worries that the rules might be implemented in other metropolitan cities, as well. “I saw posts and an article on one of the Facebook page and learnt about what the BBMP is proposing. I found it annoying and shocking. How can they tell pet parents to give away their pets? I am a pet parent too and I understand how they feel. I could do anything for my dogs, even go on a war for them,” he says. Shikhar has created a cartoon post showing a commander with a group of dogs as his soldiers.
Shikhar has two Indie dogs. “Indies are not even there on the list of breeds put up by BBMP,” he says. Shikhar says he didn’t expect his post to trend on social media. “I just started the campaign and decided to do a cartoon. There were only about two cartoons at the beginning of the campaign. Now, many people are doing it and uploading their work. It has helped the campaign grow. It helps you express your feelings,” says the 30-year-old who founded a design company by the same name as his social media handle @thevermisilly.
A Mysuru resident, Roshan Kurichiyanil, with the Instagram handle @artofroshan, did not realise the momentum of such a campaign when he was working on his post and uploading it on social media. His post shows a female pet parent protecting her pets from the hands of the authority with her umbrella.“I saw more women actively protesting about this law than men. So I decided to go with a female character in the lead.
The concept was a Mother of Dogs fighting the powerful evil law with whatever weapon she could find in her arsenal. In this case, it’s an umbrella which might look silly but it was to show that all she can think of at this moment is to protect her dogs. When I drew this, I had no idea how strong this protest would grow. So I wanted to convey the emotion of a worried single pet parent trying to protect their family. I am excited to see how people came together to fight this,” says the 35-year-old animation director.
Roshan owns a cat and feeds stray dogs every day near his studio. “Even I can’t think of losing these stray dogs now. The rule is so stupid and ridiculous. If the rule was against certain breeds that are not suitable to have in Indian climates, I could understand. For example, huskies in Kerala,” he says. Roshan did not expect his post that he made, when he some extra time off work, to go viral. “I have no idea how many people have shared the image. Every day, I come across more people and organisations using the image. Since this is for a cause, I am not bothered about copyrights. I’ll rather let the illustration serve it’s purpose. I hope BBMP will withdraw the rule,” he says.