Hyderabad, 27th July 2022: MARS Petcare, a pioneer in pet care and nutrition, has adopted an Indie dog from the Blue Cross of Hyderabad. Maya is an adult, healthy and playful female despite the physical challenge of a deformed front right leg. Maya was welcomed to the MARS Petcare office at Hyderabad, and has joined Milo, a Beagle, who was adopted few years earlier. This adoption has brought to life the #LoveHasNoBreed campaign that Mars Petcare had launched in December 2021 and is core to living its purpose as an organization. Under the #LoveHasNoBreed (#BeIndieProud) campaign, Mars Petcare has partnered with 45 NGOs across the country and facilitated more than 700 adoptions of Indie dogs and cats from shelters.
The pet friendly office of Mars Petcare encourages its associates to bring their pets to work, and has created an infrastructure that supports pet parents who are unable to leave their pets alone at home. During Covid-19, there were a large number of people who adopted pets to ease their loneliness and stay mentally and emotionally healthy. Now with the restrictions easing and organizations expecting their employees to return to office, these pet owners are facing huge challenges as the pet boarding infrastructure is not good in India and also quite expensive.
Salil Murthy, Managing Director, Mars Petcare India, like all Mars Petcare associates, is excited with Maya’s adoption and said, “We are thrilled to have Maya in our office with Milo. This adoption is one of the examples on how we are living our purpose in addition to stray feeding, Indie adoptions and creating adoption centres at shelters. We also have successful advocacy initiatives like the “State of Pet Homelessness” report, and Thought Leadership Seminar Series, that brings stakeholders on one platform to discuss how all pets can be wanted, cared for and welcome. Globally, we are creating guidelines through the “Better Cities For Pets” initiative and setting an example so that other organizations can be motivated to have pet friendly offices and reap the benefits of having pets at work. This will provide a great support to people who have pets and are now going back to their offices post Covid-19.”
Globally, Mars Petcare has been championing a Better World for Pets, which includes creating pet-friendly cities. Better Cities for Pets stems from the increasing need for cities to evolve so that pets and pet owners can enjoy pet friendly spaces, offices, healthcare infrastructure and lower human-animal conflict. This also includes welfare of street pets and a strengthened foster care and shelter environment. With more progressive policies in place, organisations can create pet-friendly setups. Pets at work can boost morale, help build a sense of community and get us up for regular play breaks – all things that are good for health. Mars Petcare has an entire how-to toolkit for pet friendly offices available on its website that companies can use for best practices. https://www.bettercitiesforpets.com/
