PetKLiye’s Food And Water Bowls A Boon For Stray Dogs

February 22, 2019

Stray dogs are sadly considered as a
nuisance as they pose numerous problems such as barking incessantly, show aggressiveness, carry diseases and bite people.

But it must be realised that these problems
arise due to the dogs being hungry!

A city-based startup PetKLiye that caters all the needs of your pets and run by three engineers, Rutuj Mutha, Sohel Inamdar and Debashish Gogoi, have started an initiative to set up food and water bowls for strays to curb their dependence on garbage bins and instead provide healthy food to them.

Within five months of the bin to bowl project, the team has placed over 22 bowls in Koregaon Park, Baner, Nigdi, Pimpri Chinchwad and Akurdi areas.

Their motive is clear – ‘No strays should sleep on an empty stomach – neither thirsty nor hungry.

Speaking to Pune365, Debashish Gogoi says, “One day while working at PetKliye, we saw a dog jump into a garbage bin to search for food while another stray who was injured went into the bin. That’s when we realised that to survive in this city the strays have to do this and that was the point when we thought we definitely needed to do something for them. That’s when I and my partners came up with the concept of the bin to bowl.”

The design includes one water and one food bowl attached to iron rods with screws that are later drilled into walls. Also once the bowls are placed, timely refilling and maintenance have been taken up by local volunteers and animal lovers.

Feeding a stray dog or cat will not only ensure good health for the four-legged ones but also calm their aggression. If that is controlled well, dogs and humans can co-exist well, Gogoi added.

Sohel Inamdar from PetKLiye says, “Our team’s aim is simple – that every citizen should know about co-existence and compassion towards every living being. We also aim to make them aware of the importance of feeding the strays.

“We also want to spread awareness among the people of this city that prevention is always better than cure and feeding them is a way to prevent the problems that people of this city think they may suffer because of the strays.

“Citizens can contact us to install these bowls in their localities. We place the bowl for free wherever the volunteer can ensure the maintenance of the bowl and wherever we get permission to place it. Currently, we’re running it on a trial basis but we hope to change the situation for strays,” Inamdar added.

A volunteer, Pankaj, says, “PetKliye has installed one set in my area and it has turned out to be one of the best platforms for food and water for my stray dogs. I have 10 strays who now are not relying on garbage bin and sewage water.”

Because of Bin to Bowl, they now have access to clean water and good food, he added.