Mid-September, Judy set off on her longest road trip from Mumbai to Jaipur. For the journey, her parents equipped her with a sun hat, a raincoat, a car hammock, a collapsible water bowl, a nightshirt and a night light, as she gets anxious once darkness falls. “She helped diffuse plenty of tension on the personal and professional front during the lockdown,” says Adele Depenha, doting pet parent to the petite, doe-eyed indie rescue. “She’s earned this break as much, if not more than us.”
The furry and the four-legged have always been steadfast companions to humans, but through the pandemic, they have also brought emotional stability to their anxious, crumbling masters, albeit inadvertently. Consequently, pet parents new and old have taken to lavishing their pets with extreme creature comforts as a small way of repaying the great debt they owe them. In 2022, if pets could brag, they’d be exchanging stories of downtime in Goan villas with pools, sojourns in adventure camps designated for pets and serious upgrades to their lifestyle. The proliferation in pet services and specialised pet product stores is proof that during the lockdown pets had it better than most, and justifiably so. In July 2021, Zara brought its pet collection to India, while French luxury brand Hermès expanded its savoir-faire to include stylish accessories—leashes, collars, bags and beds—for pooches in August 2021.
Aki and Gremlin had an eventful 2021. The two indie rescues from Bengaluru’s Second Chance Adoption Centre went on road trips to Goa, Wayanad and Coonoor. As the pandemic recedes, their local outings have grown more frequent—their parents Sandhya Surendran, a media and entertainment lawyer, and Sanjeev T, a music producer and guitarist, are inseparable from their pooches and take them everywhere. “We would have gone nuts if it wasn’t for them. They kept us sane through the second lockdown,” says Surendran, who adopted the dogs, one for herself and one for her husband, in August 2020. The lockdown has spurred a boom in pet adoption and acquisition the world over, with pets offering healing and hope to humans grappling with uncertainty, stress and grief.
For 10-year-old Dayani Bhattacharya, whose family relocated from Delhi to Goa in January 2021, the adoption of two slender indie siblings, Tokyo and Saké, has been pivotal in helping her adjust to her new environment. “For us, the move to a quieter life in Goa seemed logical, but for Dayani it meant leaving all the familiar and the many friends she’s made behind,” says her mother, the PR professional Srimoyi Bhattacharya of Peepul Consulting.
To make the transition smoother, Dayani was promised another puppy—the family is already in possession of a fiesty three-year-old poodle called Momo. “We really wanted her to associate 2021 with something happy—not the lockdown, having COVID-19, or the weight of adapting to a new life,” says Bhattacharya. Dayani’s wish was twice answered as her parents rescued not one but two indies. “We’re now six to a bed, three humans and three dogs. We feel so complete,” adds Bhattacharya.
In a pandemic rife with stories of loss and loneliness, pet owners provided some respite through cheerful social media narratives centred on the antics of their pooches and cats. The first thing TVC producer and new pet mum Divya Jagwani asks us to do is check out @Yoshi_thegoodestgirl on Instagram. A series of reels gives us a sense of the sprightly black Labrador. “Between my husband and me, I was the reluctant pet owner, but Yoshi transformed the vibe of the house completely. She cuts the tension. We’ve held on to happiness at a really weird time in everyone’s lives,” says Jagwani. In her brief time on the planet, Yoshi has been on two Goan holidays and has a pretty packed social calendar as her parents take her to coffee shops, bars and pet-friendly co-working spaces. Adds Surendran, mum to Aki and Gremlin, “It’s like living with two other people. Sometimes I spend hours just watching them be comical, argue or sleep. Nothing can make you feel as good in a shitty situation.”
The Pet Set
Five Indian women-run businesses that are leading the luxury pet care industry.
For holistic treats
A Petter Life by Anjali Kalachand and Sachin Shett
If you haven’t dabbled in or dived head first into holistic wellness, then you have probably been living under a rock. With A Petter Life, an online pet store for pooches, Anjali Kalachand made sure to also bring pets into the light. The e-store specialises in accessories, grooming products and toys that simplify pet parenting in addition to retailing organic, preservative-free treats and edibles. Kalachand’s enterprise, co-founded with family friend Sachin Shetty, resulted from a personal requirement: she was looking for holistic healing solutions for the indie she adopted five years ago, who eventually succumbed to health complications. “There was a dearth of holistic solutions for pets. Vets tend to prescribe food out of a packet and that didn’t resonate with me,” says Kalachand, a former banker who took up a course in pet nutrition and healed her indie’s skin ailments with the right kind of food.
A Petter Life, which was set up in January 2021, aims to live up to the promise held in its name. It’s more than a store—through the platform you can book a basic or advanced nutrition consultation for your pet with Kalachand, who calls her service Nutriwoof. The site also provides a directory of essential information on a comprehensive range of breeds, including personality traits and genetic predisposition. To round off its offerings, you can even get A Petter Life to calculate your dog’s ideal calorie intake via the site.
For pet holidays
Wag-A-Bond by Kannagi Shanbag
At the foot of the wild expanse of Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary in Karjat is a three-acre haven designated as a resort for our domesticated friends. Mumbai-based Kannagi Shanbag runs Wag-a-Bond, a ‘carefree getaway for you and your dog’. Once Shanbag moved back to Mumbai from New Zealand, where she was training to be a veterinary anesthesiologist, she wanted to address a gap in the market. “A pet inclusive, pet-first destination where the four-legged could explore their natural instincts without being on a leash,” as she describes it. Wag-a-Bond has been around for five years but has during the pandemic become a popular work-from-home destination for pet owners who have had long spells of isolation with their pets at home. The cottages are kitted out with special beds for dogs, the three acres are fenced to ensure safety and pets are treated to special gourmet meals catered by Lizzie’s Delicious, a pet food service operating out of Mumbai. For their humans, Kannagi serves equally indulgent fare that’s largely farm-to-table, using produce from the farm housed within Wag-a-Bond.
For pet photography
Pawparazzi by Prathima Pingale
Prathima Pingale’s regular day can strike envy in the heart of any animal lover. As a pet photographer, she gets to spend her days studying other people’s pets and what makes them tick. This constitutes as pre-shoot ‘work’ because a pet will only reveal its true nature to those its comfortable around. With Pawparazzi, which she set up in 2019, her intention was to capture a pet’s true personality as opposed to coaxing them into poses. Pingale’s love for dogs, and
a former dream to be a vet, propelled her to pursue pet photography.
In addition to specialising in birthday shoots, Pingale also offers maternity shoots that involve documenting a pet’s relationship with its pregnant pet parent, with a follow-up shoot once the baby is born and starts interacting with the pet. “In the lockdown, I’ve seen a huge demand for adventure shoots,” says Pingale. “Pet parents are bringing their pets along for kayaking, trekking, road trips…and I get to capture those unique, thrilling moments.”
For pet grooming
Zoivane by Nishma Singhal
Pets are darlings, but let’s face it, there are instances when they don’t smell their best. That’s where Zoivane steps in. Launched in September 2020, the online retailer is the equivalent of Bath & Body Works for furry ones. The site lists grooming products, bath essentials and fine fragrances all developed by Nishma Singhal, who put her master’s degree in cosmetics and perfumery (from the University of Versailles in Paris) to uncommon use. Derived from the Italian giovane (meaning ‘youth’), Zoivane products are meant to leave your pets feeling youthful.
Singhal works with a trusted group of groomers, trainers and pet parents for the R&D of her pampering products that are “result-oriented and fragrance-forward,” she says, speaking of the gap she identified in the pet grooming market. Her bestsellers are dog shampoos, pet fragrances, anti-odour sprays and lately, a host of toilet training products that have really moved during the pandemic. Lavender, aloe and citronella are some of the thoughtful ingredients employed by Zoivane that leave your pooch or cat smelling like a fragrant fruity or floral bouquet.
For retail therapy
Heads up for tails by Rashi Sanon Narang
For Rashi Sanon Narang, who runs what is perhaps India’s largest chain of premium pet care stores, Heads Up For Tails (HUFT), the pandemic has been a period of no rest and acute learnings. Even though her 40 stores spread countrywide have had to remain shuttered through the lockdown, buying online hasn’t slowed down. “We see a tonne of adoption messages on our internal work groups and even in my circle of friends. I love that this is the conversation now. It’s a welcome change from buying,” she says.
HUFT has been around since 2008, a time when choice wasn’t a luxury for pet owners looking for products and food. Sanon Narang set up her retail outfit and populated it with products manufactured in-house, such as chemical- and preservative-free bedding, one-of-a-kind pet apparel, toys and treats. Her catalogue includes products which “India at the time didn’t have the capabilities of producing.” HUFT has also championed sustainability by introducing a range of upcycled and recycled toys and bedding. While the lockdown has been a damper for most businesses, Sanon Narang, who has raised over US$37 million in funding, is brimming with positive insight. “Being at home with their pets, I’ve noticed that a lot of pet owners transitioned into pet parents, and that change has been spectacular.” Through the pandemic, HUFT has been busy with initiatives such as feeding and vaccination drives as well as programmes like The Water Bowl Project (to provide water for strays), the Monsoon Campaign (to shelter strays), and the Warmth In Winter campaign, among others.
