Was it a Paw-some Diwali? Not really!

Diwali - the festival of colours, lights, sweets and celebration! This is how most people would describe Diwali. But pet owners have a different view about Diwali and most of them do not celebrate it in the usual manner. Let’s see what these pet owners have to say about this ‘Festival of Sounds’.

‘He would shiver and squirm whenever he heard a cracker sound’: Dyutika

Dyutika, a final year student and her family celebrated eco-friendly Diwali this year as they have a family member who is petrified of cracker sounds. ‘We have a 1-year-old beagle and his name is Poco. We did not burst any crackers as we know how much animals suffer due to the smoke and sound of crackers. We kept our pet inside our room and we were with him the entire time because he would shiver and squirm every time a cracker went off with a boom sound. Though we were with him, he was still terrified because of the continuous blast of crackers.’

Poco the Beagle (Picture source: Dyutika)

‘Initially, he was frightened but got better with time’: Shanmuga Priya

Shanmuga Priya, a final year college student, has a 3-year-old Labrador, Tony Stark, who is very playful and friendly. Priya and her family stopped celebrating Diwali in the conventional way years back and instead spent time with family, eating sweets. ‘We mostly don't let Tony out in the morning especially during Diwali and in the evening, we take him to the terrace with us. I have heard how the sound of crackers affects animals. So we were worried whether this would affect him. Initially, he was frightened but he got better with time. But I do feel bad for stray dogs. Sometimes the little kids are really inconsiderate towards the safety of these animals.

Tony Stark as a pup (Picture source: Shanmuga Priya)

‘They were shivering out of fear’: Sneha

Sneha, a second-year medical student has a Labrador, Bruno and a golden retriever, Storm. They did not burst crackers as both her pets were terribly afraid of the sound. ‘We didn’t celebrate Diwali at all. Both my pets were shivering out of fear and we plugged cotton in their ears to keep them comfortable,’ says Sneha. Though her pets stayed close to her, they still didn’t feel safe. ‘We couldn’t do anything about it,’ laments Sneha.

Bruno

Storm

(Pictures source: Sneha)

‘The notorious cats were not normal’: Bernice

“Since we live in an apartment, we don't own a pet but my family loves cats and so we feed the street cats and they mostly stay in our parking lot. The cats are usually very enthusiastic and naughty but during Diwali we saw them behaving strangely. They were so scared because of the sound of crackers that they hid themselves inside the shoe cabinet and we had to literally pull them out to feed them. Every sound of the crackers made my cats shiver. That was the effect of Diwali on my notorious cats,” muses Bernice.

‘Celebrated this Diwali with no crackers’: Darishini

Darishini has two dogs named Rocky and Dolly. She says, “I celebrated this Diwali with my family, having sweets and snacks but with no crackers". We did not burst crackers and we made sure that our dogs knew we were with them so they didn't have to be scared. Rocky kept barking whenever he heard the sound of crackers and Dolly hid herself where she might not hear the sound,’ says Darishini.

Rocky and Dolly (Pictures sources: Darishini)