Not too long ago, the world found itself rooting for Punch, the little Japanese macaque who found comfort in a stuffed orangutan toy. Social media turned his story into a global conversation, with strangers invested in his well-being. Bengaluru too found its unlikely internet favourites just recently, but with a twist! Casting over two lakh votes, the city chose its chonkiest dog from an array of contenders through a poll!
Fat Dogs of BLR, an online contest inspired by Delhi’s viral initiative, concluded with Goofy from Nagarbhavi emerging as the winner against fellow finalist Bachonker McChonketh. What began as a playful social media experiment soon turned into a community-driven contest, garnering around 2.21 lakh votes and over 1.5 million views across five posts in two weeks. “We saw the success of Fat Dogs in Delhi and thought it would be interesting to replicate that in Bengaluru. There was already a Fat Dogs of BLR page with a collection of random dogs from across the city. We thought it would be fun to invite submissions from our community and actually hold elections,” says Mazin Mohamed Iqbal, admin of the page who also runs another popular social media page, fave.finds.blr. Hundreds of entries poured in, with 64 making it to the competition.
It was a few weeks ago that a student from Delhi University created a page to post the fat dogs she spotted in and around the campus, which went on to become a social media sensation. The Bengaluru initiative too exceeded expectations. “The sheer outpouring of energy that we got was among the biggest surprises. We just put out an open call. There are around 64,000 to 65,000 people in our community, so we asked them to send us a picture of any corpulent dog they had seen around the city, along with its name and the area where they found it.” Iqbal says. People began creating fan pages for their favourite dogs, while Instagram and Reddit saw playful debates and banter between supporters.
For Iqbal, who was rooting for Bachonker, the appeal went beyond the novelty of voting for a dog. He believes that rooting for a canine from one’s neighbourhood offers people a shared sense of belonging. “When you see something as genuine as an innocent animal, you feel a connection,” he says, adding, “A dog from one’s locality becomes something to root for, offering a small but meaningful sense of representation.”
Beyond the humour, the initiative also sought to bring animal welfare into the conversation. The organisers pledged `10,000 towards rescue efforts, with Charlie’s Animal Rescue Centre (C.A.R.E.) among the recipients. The playful celebration of chonky dogs also raised questions about the health concerns associated with canine obesity. Iqbal says the contest was not intended to encourage unhealthy weight gain. “It just created a few days of healthy, fun conversations. People knew there wasn’t going to be any tangible change, but it was still something we could accept. Even if that cannot bring about any change, it still gives you something to root for,” Iqbal notes. The organisers had used their social media stories to highlight that some dogs might need care and attention, while directing followers towards animal welfare.
With the page gaining traction among netizens, Iqbal hopes the contest has helped the dogs receive greater attention. “I would like to imagine that people actually go and see these dogs. There’s obviously a lot of conversation that we don’t have a pulse on. But I like to think that they have received more attention than they did before,” he signs off.