Dogs in Mumbai get radium bands on Friendship Day to be saved from road accidents

A group of dog lovers celebrated Friendship Day with their canine friends by tying light-reflecting bands around their necks in Mulund. The bands will make dogs more noticeable to motorists and so prevent them from getting hit by vehicles at night.

This initiative was termed as ‘Friendship Day With Wagging Tails’, an initiative of Nisha Suhanda, a Mulund resident. Around 250 dogs were fed and the ‘friendship bands’ were tied around their necks.

“Around 45 to 50 dogs per day in Mumbai meet with accidents at night owing to poor light in certain areas. By tying these belts we aim to help the driver or the rider in identifying movement of an animal so that they do not hit the dog on the road. This led us to come up with such a first-ever initiative in Mumbai,” said Suhanda.

Around 20 members of the group Om Foundation fed the dogs and tied the light-reflectors. “It was difficult for us to gather all the dogs and feed them, hence we decided to handle the dogs that were less aggressive so that not only the food but the bands are also tied easily.

Brij Bhanushali of Om Foundation said, “Our aim was to send out the message that dogs are equally important and should be accepted as part of the almighty’s creation so that people learn to co-exist with them happily. We have also been conducting awareness sessions of anti-rabies and why dog bites happen with an aim to make people aware about the four legged animal that is faithful to men.”