CAdabom Okami, a rare ‘Wolfdog’ Hybrid, made headlines, when it was declared the most expensive dog in the world with a price tag of Rs 50 crore. Then we came to know, Cadbom Okami does not exist the most. A cheating or not, the story of Cadbome raises many concerns around pets, pet trade and animal welfare.
The dog was purchased by the Bangalore resident of Bangalore, president of the Indian Breeders Association. This news was covered globally and it brought it to the attention of the authorities. An ad raid did not get any paperwork or transaction history to prove the claims of ‘Celebrity’ dog breeder.
Let’s break it – not in the headlines, but everything is wrong with this story.
In India, Rs 50 crore can probably be sterilized and provide vaccination for about 1,00,000 street dogs.
The media gave the story the story without any verification, celebrating the “world’s most expensive dog” in the headlines; Nobody thought: “Another puppy originates from the cruel reproductive industry.”
There was no mention of Cadbom’s mother or father, where he was a breed, or under what moral and practical standards by him.
I am sure this was not a love story of a wolf meeting a Caucasian Shepherd Dog. It rarely comes about breeding. Fake or real, this story represents the hidden pain of millions of female dogs: forcibly breed, artificially conception, and nothing more than reproductive machines.
Ask a breeder that you show the mother, and you will probably get away. Because he is placed in a backyard, a basement, a cage, or a closed room. His suffering is made invisible to benefit.
Does a dog or being alive constantly want to be pregnant? As a woman, just trying to place herself in her place makes me cool. He has no choice and is considered like a reproductive machine. I am sure every woman reading will have sympathy, some men, perhaps. And for male dogs, they are equally helpless. Breeding is a stressful process and most likely that their environment is not better than their female counterparts.
Also read: Animal cruelty requires more than difficult laws, aggressive policing. Why show colonial-era fights
Abandoned pet
Cruelty does not end there. The newborn puppies get away very soon, often in less than 45 days. They are transported in homes in the most inhuman methods. Millions of dogs suffer from breeders who have converted them into objects for sale, and a little more.
The breeders fulfilled those who have not gone through any screening or education process before receiving a pet, who would not have given a single idea as to why they want the dog, and who can leave them due to busy programs, behavioral challenges, diseases, or lack of money. According to a 2019 survey, Pet abandonment in urban India is at 50 percent,
His mothers sacrificed their lives to give birth to him, he was taken away before closing medical and legally, and put into cardboard boxes and taken to buses and barren cages, all were released.
And all this? It fuel a pet industry Allegedly valuable In 2024, in $ 10.5 billion, and growing. An industry that incorporates pet food, accessories, and rapid personalized veterinary care is made on the back of animals treated as objects.
And what do we do to stop it? Many times, nothing. Instead, we blame dogs. Meanwhile, breeders, pets shops, and even some veterinarians continue uncontrolled with irregular practices and “trading in general.
Law implementation
The prevention of Animals (PET Shop) Rules 2018 and Dog Breeding and Marketing Rules 2017 for cruelty has been brought to regulate the region, away from being properly implemented. If nothing else, it needs to be replaced.
We have laws, whatever we don’t have. Data -appointed or unregistered breakers and pet shops, the number of pets are being sold or bought, pets are registered. All this information is important to work.
This whole story of Cadbom should be a wake-up call.
While 70 million dogs roam our streets, we should no longer close eyes for their pain, only to finish the cycle. There is a clear reminder of what this story is happening in India, with an increase in income, people are paying in high amounts, for more foreign breeds, for some time shostopper and party gossip, only to finish the animal on the road.
Wants to run, play, tumble, to make a royal dirt, and make a mark on the world.
Which brings us back to Cadbom Okami. If he is realWhat does he want?
He wants to run wild and free in the mountains, as his ancestors once did. He wants a pack, a purpose, a place that does not include flashballs and cages. But Cadbom will never know that freedom. This is the terrible truth of this story, and that is why we should do everything we can change the course.
Karen Nazreth is a senior director of fellow animals and
Human World for Animals India (East Human Society
International/India). Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)