Four-year-old Gazelle came dressed in her Sunday best — red shoes and pink tutu — and year-old Fluffy had spent the better part of the morning getting his hair brushed. Gazelle, a Pug, and Fluffy, a Lhasa Apso, had come to spend their Sunday at FD Park, where Bidhannagar Mela (Utsav)’s dog show was underway, in association with Bidhannagar (Salt Lake) Kennel Club. 

The chief guest, state chief secretary Basudeb Banerjee, was welcomed by a Labrador who presented him flowers. Several trained dogs also displayed their agility by jumping through rings of fire. 

But there were many who impressed simply with their cuteness. Spike, a Boxer, was in full spirits licking anyone who came up to him and Mango, a Great Dane, was getting requests to stand on his hind legs so all could see how tall he was. 

What’s in a name
A four-month-old Rottweiler was called Teddy as “that’s just what he looked like when we first got him,” smiled the brother-sister duo Pallavi and Priyangshu Maiti of AC Block. 

Debashis Sarkar of Michaelnagar had an explanation for his Golden Retriever’s name too. “His sire was imported from France and so we wanted to give him a name with a French connection. We went for Bonbon, which means candy in French,” he said. 

But perhaps the most amusing was the story behind a New Town-based English Cocker Spaniel’s name. “I named him Mithu as it’s my husband’s pet name. That way I would be calling out ‘Mithu’ all day long and thinking of my husband,” smiled Anandi Chatterjee.  

Open to all
President of the kennel club Tapas Sengupta stressed on the need to care for street dogs too. “Our show has been open to nondescript dogs for more than 10 years now and we get good response. People who want to enrol their pets for shows shouldn’t have to worry about whether their dog has a pedigree or not,” he said. 

So there were dogs like Wrimo, who may have been born in the streets but who were proudly walked in the ring by their owners. “Street dogs are very hardy. My Wrimo had got badly bitten by another dog last week. Even the vet felt a pedigreed dog might not have survived the attack but not only has Wrimo recovered, he’s also come to take part in a show!” smiled Somjit Talkudar, an engineering student from EE Block. 

Somjit’s pet name is Wrick and so the puppy was to be named with the letter W. “And I love eating momos so I punched W and momo to make Wrimo,” he laughed. 

But dogs were not the only pets seen at this show. There were also two hares. “Since there’s no hare show in town, I got my hares Myna and Mo to come see ‘doggie dadas’ today,” smiled Shreyan Chatterjee of BD Block, who was then in Class VI. 

Myna and Mo had been preceded by an Eeni and Minie but they had passed away previously. The two who came went from lap to lap obliging selfie-seekers, “but I think they are inherently scared of the Beagles. Beagles are gun dogs that would help in hunting hares, among other animals,” said the informed boy. 

But he enjoyed the dog show so much that he went and brought home a Cultured Pomeranian the very next day. 

Sengupta said he was keen to hold a show for cats next. “But we would need an indoor venue as cats tend to wander off,” he said.