At a time when dialogues around treatment of animals have become serious and are making headlines, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has organised a Polo Exhibition Match, Camel and Canine Show in Delhi encouraging people to be more compassionate towards animals.
“Ever since Jallikattu and Kambala have come into focus, it has become important to understand how intelligent animals can be,” says Neelam Pratap Singh Rudy, one of the organisers and chairperson of Sports Committee. She adds, “Dogs can sniff, fetch and attack. Camels can even dance! Who knew that? I want people of Delhi to know what animals are capable of. Also, in a city, one doesn’t get to see animals till one goes to the zoo. So this is a small effort from our side. If people like it, we will organise more such events.”
The open to all event will have an exhibition polo match with shows by trained dogs and camels of the Border Security Force (BSF).
{{/usCountry}}The open to all event will have an exhibition polo match with shows by trained dogs and camels of the Border Security Force (BSF).
{{/usCountry}}Mukesh Gupta, co-organiser and chairman of the Tourism Committee, says, “When we proposed the idea of a camel show to the BSF, they gave us an amazing response and even suggested holding a dog show,” he adds, “The general public gets to see these animals and their amazing skills only on Republic Day. We thought why not organise an event where they would get one more chance to see them performing.”
The idea of organising such an event, says Rudy , struck her last year when her friends invited her to see the BSF camel contingent in their full glory. “We were around 150 people and it was like being at a kabila. When I saw the camels dancing and the officers performing yoga atop them, I was awestruck. I knew that it was something Delhi should see,” she adds.
A vegetarian herself, Rudy believes that humans must learn to coexist with and respect animals. “Animals are limited to zoos. Human beings have spread everywhere and have taken over the spaces for animals, too! In addition to that, our abuse of nature has led to that climate change and other severe consequences of that. We must learn to respect and love animals, and understand that the world is as much their as it is ours,” she says.