A gated community in Chennai gives its pets a ‘free run’

In what is probably a first for the metro, Bollineni Hillside establishes a pet park for its own community and two neighbouring ones

On February 24, Pluto had a whiff of an initiative that should allow pets at Bollineni Hillside a free run outside their home. A spitz and therefore a pet himself, Pluto was out on an evening walk with his human-mother, when the duo was ushered into a Pet Park, two days too soon. The launch of the Pet Park was scheduled for February 26, and Pluto was the ‘volunteer’ chosen to illustrate the concept underpinning the facility. The office bearers of Bollineni Hillside Residential Township Owners Association (BHRTOA) — Commander Satish Chandrasekaran (retd), president and Shoba Srikanth, executive committee member — were going into the details of the exercise, with Pluto expected to make it come alive for this writer.

Pluto shuffled on to a platform and barked home its significance. He would be invited on to it on May 23, his birthday. The platform allows pet parents to celebrate their four-legged children.

The partying platform was a toilet —a temporary structure, reveals Commander Satish. Sure enough, the raised space is studded with floor drains. Shoba explains that the platform was the result of seeing residents going outside seeking paid spaces and services to celebrate their pet’s birthday.

The president says the community has around 50 strays and complaints about their presence poured in. The Association went by the rulebook. It got Blue Cross to take the dogs and have them sterilised and vaccinated before releasing them back in the community. This exercise gave these residents reassurance.

The president further elaborates that having contributed a handsome sum for managing the stray dog population, the Association decided to “take it forward for the pet owners also.”

“There are many pet owners who walk their dogs on a leash. There are 276 villas within the community, and even there, they hardly have 100 sq.ft of open space for the dogs to run around,” he observes.

So, the Association decided to redo an extreme section of a park that was overrun with unruly vegetation and had a makeshift structure for a toilet.