Bow-wow: I do

Pet canines in the National Capital Region are all set to exchange vows of love with their “chosen one”. Neha Sharma finds out.

Hundreds of dogs, all dressed to the hilt, wagging tails and barking I Do’s…no, this isn’t a scene out of an animation film.

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Pet canines in the National Capital Region are all set to exchange vows of love with their “chosen one”. Come Saturday morning and the Ansal Plaza Malls in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida will witness mass weddings, accompanied by lots of bow-wows.

With a hundred dog owners having already registered at Ansal Plaza, Khel Gaon Marg, and many more expected, this is one wedding that promises to be different.

Owners of these pets are excited and looking forward to the event. 25-year-old Ruchira, who works with a production house and has a two-and a-half-year-old German shepherd, Sandy, says, “This is the right opportunity to get him married and mated with a healthy German shepherd. I want him to mate because he is getting old.”

All geared up
The owners of the dogs will walk around and choose a mate for their pets. Once a suitable match is found, the marriage will be solemnised in true traditional style. Says Abhijit Das, additional general manager, Ansal Plaza, “There will be someone dressed as a priest who will get the dogs married. The owners will repeat the vows after him.” To make sure everything goes smoothly, veterinarians will be present at the event.

Wedding jitters
However, Dr Ajay Sood of Dog & Cat clinic, Preet Vihar has a word of advice for the owners: "A wedding like this in its true spirit would imply an active intercourse. One must keep in mind that the female dogs come in season only twice a year, so if the female dog is not in heat and a male dog tries to get close to her, she might bite him.” So how will the owners know if their dogs are attracted to each other? “The two dogs will go close to each other, smell each other for long and wag their tails,” he says.

The event has, however, not gone down well with animal rights activists who label it “ridiculous” and say it is the “objectification of dogs”. Head of People for Animals, Rajeev Jain, feels that dressing up dogs and getting them married like humans is demeaning. “It’s not an actual wedding. Which owner would want to let their dog marry and go to another’s house? This is clearly objectifying the dogs,” he says.