The Hindu Car-Free Sundays offers platform for pet lovers to meet and exchange ideas

The Hindu Car-Free Sundays, a joint initiative with the Coimbatore Smart City, Coimbatore Municipal Corporation, and Coimbatore City Police, hosted events titled ‘Pets’ Day Out’ in association with partners — Barkathon, Pets 101, YNOT Photography and RJ Pet House— from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on May 21.

“I drove from Vadavalli with my seven-year-old son to be part of The Hindu Car-Free Sundays event. Pets are not allowed in my apartment. But I had pets in my hometown in Tirunelveli district. This is a wonderful reminder to me and a new experience for my son,” said N. Dharmaraj.

The Hindu Car-Free Sundays, a joint initiative with the Coimbatore Smart City, Coimbatore Municipal Corporation, and Coimbatore City Police, hosted events titled ‘Pets’ Day Out’ in association with partners — Barkathon, Pets 101, YNOT Photography and RJ Pet House— from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on May 21.

A runway featuring the pets brought by people — from rabbits to dogs such as St. Bernards, German Shepherds, American Bulldogs, Golden Retrievers, and Pitbull Terriers - brightened the morning of Coimbatoreans.

Founder of Barkathon Manoj Krishna Kumar, who had brought his 11-month-old black Bully Kutta named Bheem, said the event was aimed at enabling pet parents have an arena to meet and exchange ideas. “Not many pet parents get a chance to socialise. The event also features a stall with healthy snack options for dogs,” he said.

C. Sundararajan had brought along his two-year-old German Miniature Pinscher ‘Pink’ for the event. “I have been raising stray or abandoned dogs for over 20 years. Around 140 dogs that were used for testing in a medical laboratory in Bengaluru were released by the government a few years ago and distributed to trustable nurturers. My daughter is a part of the Blue Cross and she was given two of the rescued dogs. ‘Pink’ is one of them.”

The Hindu Car-Free Sundays also saw performances by students of Meelkazhani Silambam (martial arts) Training Academy, Poikkal Kuthirai artists, and Zumba trainers.

S. Senthil Valavan, Director, Coimbatore International Airport, who threw some hoops at the basketball event, said, “It is very a good initiative, especially for children.”