Campus pets more than a passtime for students

Students find time to play with their campus pet during their college hours
Every college in the city has a campus dog which they take care of. We find out more…
Dogs are a man’s best friend. College students know this and live by it. Even though the students are busy with their college assignments, placements and fest practices, they still have time to play with their college pet.
Most colleges in the city have a dog on their campus which they adore and play with during their free hours. These pet dogs in the campus have been around for a while now. Mohit Mittal, a student of ISB&M explains, “ Pinky is a very good dog. She has been in our campus for three years now. Everyone knows Pinky and she roams around the college all day”. Pinky is a very educated dog too. “ She has done her PG from ISB&M and she knows everything,” says he. Pinky seems to have marked a territory in the campus and she also gets food from the mess.
All dogs have a place which they call home and Simba and Symbi, the two dogs have made Symbiosis College their home. Rahul Deshpande, a student of Symbiosis College says, “ Simba and Symbi are pretty well known in campus. They get food from the canteen and even the teachers love him. They don’t let any other dog come into the campus. So, if you come to college, you will notice him sitting by the katta which is his hangout.”
The students also know the whereabouts of their pet and keep an eye out for them. Dogs are loyal and they follow you everywhere once they know that you are their master. Pooja Shinde, a student of MIT says, “We have no name for the dog that we all pet at campus. But everyone is very fond of him since we have seen him grow and he follows us everywhere around college.”
Everywhere in college can get risky since classrooms are also a part of college. “Sometimes he follows us to our classrooms and the teachers get very irked then,” Says she. Fergusson College has a very unusual name for their campus bitch and students fondly call her Arpita. When we probed into the matter, Sneha Desai, a 12th grader said, “I don’t know why we call her by that name, but this is what our seniors instructed us to call her. So, we are just following what our seniors told us.” Now, that sounds intriguing. Seniors with such strict instructions on passing that name on sounds like a plan . Since it is getting cold, who will keep those pets snug and warm? “We are planning to get some blankets for Arpita for the cold winters,” she adds. Some students claim that the dogs in the campus need protection from the ones who throw stones at them.
Daniel Nicholas, a student of Wadia College says, “There are some students who want the dogs to go away and throw stones at him. Our groups of friends save them from that all the time. We fight for Puss and Jacklin, who are so close to us.” Once you have spent enough time with a dog, you get very attached to him. But for students to spend their entire time playing with their campus pet and affect their attendance. Daniel adds, “I sometimes bunk classes to spend time with Puss and Jacklin” Now we get the better picture of how students are attached to the dogs, don’t we? Whatever said and done, it is indeed a wonderful gesture by the students to take care of their campus pet despite their tight schedules and limited time.
If you visit any of these college campuses, you will see how attached the students are towards the dogs and how integral a part they play in everyday college life.
shruti.ravi@timesgroup.com