Happy pet friendly holi!

With just a few days to go, the festival of colors is here again!! Be happy and play ‘Holi’ to your heart’s content but please spare your furry friends as they don’t like playing ‘Holi’ the way we do. Every year we see lots of people putting colors on stray dogs, sometimes out of love and sometimes just out of fun. But people who really care for dogs should actually know the truth that any type of color, wet or dry, that we play with on Holi, are extremely dangerous for the dogs.

For all such kind and responsible people reading this, here are a few of the harmful effects of coloring dogs during Holi:

1. Dogs have a natural habit of licking out any foreign element that gets stuck to their body. When we color a dog, unintentionally we are forcing them to lick the toxic colors from their bodies which has a high risk of causing various stomach ailments and death in extreme cases.
2. Hair loss and other skin problems including dermatitis are very common problems faced by the stray dogs due to the colors thrown on them
3. Both dry or wet colors, when exposed to their eyes can cause eye irritation and in many cases, severe damages
4. Some strong chemicals present in synthetic colors cause burns to their skins.
5. The color often gets in contact with their previously present cuts and wounds and this causes further infections, fatal at times.
6. Pretty often their gastrointestinal tracks are affected badly due the hazardous colors.
7. Besides the physical trauma, psychologically too this is quite disturbing for the dogs when they are exposed to colors or get hit by water balloons. It frightens them and they may become frantic.

For all those who treat their pets as family and include them in every celebration ,there are many other ways to show your affection for your dog! A small haldi tikka on the forehead is a good alternative. Your duty does not end here. This year and onwards, if you see anyone doing the same to the stray dogs, stray animals or even to their own pets, then stop them at once. Let them know the disastrous consequences of doing this.

Be the voice of the voiceless and spare your furry friends. Have a pet friendly holi!