Every dog had its day at Visakhapatnam dog show

Visakhapatnam: While the Vizag Dog Show on Sunday seemed like a battle field for many pet owners showcasing their dogs at VUDA MGM Ground and proves theirs was the best, for other onlookers it was a visual delight to see the canine of different breeds and also stalls displaying pet products.

There were 410 entries for the dog show this time, slightly more than last year. Even, a four-year-old dog from Russia of East European Shepherd breed took part in the show with his owner Sergei.

Labrador and German Shepherd breed of dogs had highest entry with 78 and 53 respectively. Dogs of other breeds like British Bulldog, ChowChow, Belgian Shepherd, Doberman, Rottweiler, Siberian Husky, Golden Retriever, Boxer, Irish Setter, Dachshund, Mini Pomerian,Pug and Spitz also participated.

Besides, it turned out to be a grand dog fest with experts in dog training, breeding, grooming and companies associated with dog products congregating at the one venue.

HRD minister Ganta Srinivas Rao graced the occasion as chief guest encouraging the dog lovers of the city. The judge of the show Mr Abhimanyu said such event would teach dog lovers about on how to take care of their dogs in the right manner. “Judging is not about comparing the dogs to each other, rather to check the parameters of the ideal version of its breed conforming to the Federation Cynologique International norms,” he said speaking about the  criterion for selection of dog at the show. One of the organising members of the show, M.M. Basha, said he was really thrilled with the enormous response from the dog lovers to the show.

“I had heard about the various breeds of dogs, but this dog show gave a chance to see all live at one place,” said Akash, a student.

Several pet care companies opened stalls at the dog show venue. CIPLA Vet Sales manager, L. Chandrabushan, said pet care market is booming in India as the number of pet owners is increasing. “While the pharmaceutical industry growing at 8 per cent, its pet care segment is doing phenomenal with an average 33 per cent growth every year,” he added.

“Every other company into pharmaceutical business is opening pet care sector due to the huge demand. Even, dog specialty hospitals are coming up in cities. The food, vaccination, therapy and treatment style have gone under drastic change,” he added.

Bharat International Pet Foods regional sales manager V.L. Ratnakiran said there was a huge demand for pet food of other countries. The pet food manufactured by Indian companies did not contain refin-ed chicken oil, fish meal.