Wow for a wag

In spite of looking after 11 dogs, six goats, a buffalo and a dozen chickens between her farm near Lonavla and home in Bombay, Shireen Merchant (née Dhabhar) extends her animal welfare services through her magazine Woof! The Mag with a Wag assisting readers on every aspect of dogs and dog ownership. She realized that pet owners had a lot of problems and questions that often remained unanswered and Woof! would be the ideal channel through which to solve them. Backed by her husband Junaid who photographs for and is also on the editorial team of Woof!, the magazine "has been a runaway hit with dog lovers all over the country,” confirms the release. Merchant recalls that Woof! began as an eight-page newspaper in May 2002 and has now matured into a more than 30-page glossy magazine. Realizing that there was a dearth of information in India on the "assistance dog angle” (which involves professional training of a puppy for one or two years after which he is placed in the home of a disabled person), Merchant was motivated to help India’s disabled to be better looked after.

"I bought your magazine on Saturday and since then it has not left my side. As a dog owner I was excited; at least there is a magazine that is ready to talk about dogs and help us out,” writes Harpreet Kaur in an e-mail to the Speak Up! section of Woof! Though most of the articles are written by Merchant herself, avid animal lover and animal welfare education officer of the Government of India Supriya Bose and Bombay’s only practicing canine cardiologist Dr Sangita Vengsarker Shah are regular contributors. The Gourmutt column offers easy to prepare and healthy recipes for canine treats. To make Banana and Biscuit Bites, crushed digestive biscuits, mashed ripe bananas and plain yoghurt are mixed together into a crunchy paste which is then filled in small plastic ice cream cups. One chew stick is inserted into each cup and then frozen. This "pupsicle” makes a delicious dessert for a dog, they confirm.

In the editorial of the October/December 2003 issue of the quarterly Merchant encourages the readers to adopt a homeless dog this Diwali: "It takes heart and courage to adopt a shelter dog though, and not everyone has it in them. In this day and age everyone wants fancy pedigree dogs to keep up with the Joneses. Well, take it from me, a homeless dog will give you as much, if not more love and will be a devoted companion for life.” Her family has adopted five homeless dogs over the years and they haven’t regretted it. She observes that the condition of stray dogs in Bombay is better than that in cities like Poona, but citizens must be patient since efforts to sterilize and neuter the dogs take time. A resident of Dadar’s Mancherji Joshi Colony in Bombay, Merchant remarks that there are many dogs in the Colony, most of whom are well looked after. "Parsis by and large believe in dogs,” she adds.

Woof! was launched by the popular Canines Can Care organization, also founded by Merchant seven years ago, that pioneered the concept of assistance, search and rescue dogs in India, states the release. In fact, the Canines Can Care search dog team was the only one representing India in the aftermath of the Gujarat earthquake, she notes. The organization also conducts month long dog training classes for pet owners, holds agility training sessions and offers behavioral advice for dog problems. Though Merchant maintains that setting up Canines Can Care wasn’t easy since it was the first of its kind in the country and she was still young, it received a positive response.

When asked what prompted her to return to India after studying and working in England in the field of canine training and behavior, Merchant explains that it was England’s harsh weather and India’s lack of information in her area of research that hastened her homecoming. She is the youngest member of The Northern Centre for Animal Behavior and The Pet Behavior Institute, England, states her bio data.

A yearly subscription to Woof! costs Rs 120 for four informative issues and can be made to Woof! The Mag with A Wag! 806 B, Empire Mahal, Khodadad Circle, Dadar, Bombay 400014.

Simin J. Patel