Chennai,  The animal lovers of Chennai are planning to put reflective collars around the necks of about 4,000 stray dogs and 500 cattle in Chennai. This is to reduce the number of stray dogs and cattle being hit by speeding vehicles at night.

People for Cattle in India (PFCI), which launched the Magic Collar campaign in 2016 is behind this project. It will be supported by Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding.

Neil Roberts, an animal lover associated with the PFCI, while speaking to IANS said: "On Sunday, we will begin the project. As I am feeding around 80 neighbourhood dogs, they are friendly with me. We will start with these dogs as they won't be attacking us."

He said that since the Covid-19 pandemic, many people had volunteered to feed stray dogs in their areas which have led to them developing a personal bond with these animals. Neil said that this camaraderie will be used for putting reflective collars around their necks. They will rope in resident association office-bearers for this project.

The PFCI office-bearers said that the number of accidents involving animals has gone up in the past few months and that the number of stray animals on the street has also increased.

Arun Prasanna G, founder of the PFCI said that the group has around 200 volunteers in the city and that they are all familiar with the local stray dogs. These people will be engaged for putting collars on these animals.

The PFCI will be conducting a reflective collar programme in each locality every weekend to protect maximum animals.