Just after the release of his debut film Akhil, actor Akhil Akkineni appeared in a brand-new campaign for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India to encourage his fans to open up their homes to a homeless dog or cat. In the print visual of the campaign, Akkineni is shown with rescued dog Browney with the caption “Adopt Love. Adopt a Dog From a Shelter or the Street”. Ace photographer YSN Murthy shot the ad, and Akkineni’s hair and make-up were done by Tamanna Rooz.
Akkineni says, “I have been brought up in a house where animals are our friends and we treat them as equals. … When someone is mean to a dog, they are being cruel to a living being.” He adds, “Animals don’t deserve to be abused. They deserve to be friends with us and they deserve to be appreciated for the beautiful beings they are.”
“Pedigree” cats and dogs, who have been bred for certain exaggerated physical traits such as squashed-in noses and long ears, are more susceptible to developing medical problems, including cancer, kidney disease, joint ailments, hip dysplasia, heart defects, epilepsy, and eye and ear infections. Right now, homeless cats and dogs all across India are fighting for their lives. With only scraps to eat, many go hungry. Others sustain broken bones and wounds that become infected, are killed by vehicles or are abused by cruel people. Countless more wait in animal shelters because there aren’t enough good homes for them.
Sterilisations are routine, affordable surgeries that can prevent thousands of animals from being born only to suffer and struggle to survive on the streets, be abused by cruel or neglectful people or end up in animal shelters for a lack of good homes. Just one unaltered female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies in six years. In seven years, one female cat and her offspring can produce 370,000 kittens. Sterilising eliminates the stress and discomfort that females endure during heat periods and greatly reduces the risk of mammary cancer. It also makes males far less likely to roam or fight.