Strays at Carter Road Equipped with QR Tags for Diwali Safety

The initiative, led by Planet for Plants and Animals India (PPA) and Pawfriend.in, aims to help track and retrieve dogs that may wander away due to the noise from firecrackers. The initiative aligns with a collective effort to safeguard animals during festive celebrations

Mumbai: In response to the distress faced by street dogs during Diwali festivities, locals at Carter Road, Bandra, have taken a proactive step by equipping strays with reflective collars featuring tags and QR codes. The initiative, led by Planet for Plants and Animals India (PPA) and Pawfriend.in, aims to help track and retrieve dogs that may wander away due to the noise from firecrackers.

Strays at Carter Road Equipped with QR Tags for Diwali Safety

An incident on Friday night involving Coco, an indie street dog, fitted with a reflective collar, went missing amid firecracker noise, but the QR code on the collar facilitated quick scans, allowing locals to locate him not far from his territory.

Saakshi Teckchandani, founder of PPA India, and Akshay Ridlan, founder of Pawfriend.in, tagged around 25 dogs along the promenade. This initiative aims to trace back lost strays and enables citizens to bring them back to their territory and reunite them with their families.

Poonam Mahajan, the area’s MP, participated in the initiative, emphasising the importance of digital QR-based identification for animals. The collars with QR codes reveal details on a website, including a unique identification number for the animals, name, age, gender, color, address, and medical history.

As a next step, 5000 reflective collars will be distributed free of cost pan India by PPA India, ensuring a broader impact beyond the Carter Road community. The initiative aligns with a collective effort to safeguard animals during festive celebrations.