Mass Reflective Collar Campaign for Community Dogs

Mysuru: People For Animals (PFA), Mysuru, will be launching a mass social campaign ‘Circle of Life,’ to reduce animal casualty rates by putting reflective collars on over 8,400 dogs that its clinic treats every year. The campaign will be launched tomorrow (Nov. 25) at 11.30 am by DC D. Randeep at the PFA premises in SBM Layout, Bogadi, Mysuru. MCC Assistant Director (Vet) Dr. S.C. Suresha and others will be present. The mass campaign is being held as the study by the Ministry of Urban Transport and Highways found that animals crossing highways have led to 7,734 accidents between 2012-2014 alone, with a record-breaking 3,000 accidents recorded in 2013. 90% of these accidents occur at night when community dogs come out to scavenge for food and the speeding vehicles do not see them due to poor night-time visibility. Wanting to do something about it, Bengaluru residents Karthik Kasoju and Ritikaa Goel, conceived ‘Circle of Life,’ a mass reflective collar campaign to reduce animal casualty rates. The collars took three months to develop and went through an initial pilot run of 100 reflective colour prototypes, quality and usability testing. The team finally decided on the use of dual reflective materials with an increased reflectivity index at night — hence increasing the drivers’ visibility of an animal wearing the collar after dark and allowing motorists to navigate safely to avoid hitting the dog. The collar bands are durable and have sturdy buckle to avoid tearing and falling off. The campaign expects the number of road accidents to fall by 80% as a result of the dogs wearing dual reflective collars. The cost of the collar is Rs. 50 each and is available through the ‘Circle of Life’ campaign only.