When on holiday, Bengaluru's millennials do not leave their pets behind

BENGALURU: Corporate lawyer Ishita Kapur celebrated her birthday quite uniquely in Mahabalipuram. She went on this holiday along with her husband and their two-year-old White Retriever named Princess.
“Our dogs are like our kids. I take time out to bond with them. We stayed at the Taj Fisherman’s Cove which has ocean-front pet-friendly villas which offers beds for dogs and specialised pet food. It was delightful to see our dog running on the beach to her heart’s content,” says Kapur, vice president and senior counsel at Diageo India.

Kapur loves taking her pets on vacations and has even covered snowy Himachal Pradesh and camped at Pawna Lake (Lonavala) in the past.

Taking pet holidays is the latest cool among the millennials. The city, apparently, ranks top in this trend. Road trips to nearby hill stations and beaches are most popular.

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Restaurateur Pratiksha Kataria celebrated New Year’s Eve with JLo, her Doll Face Persian cat. “We indulged in a three-day stay at Angsana spa resort located outside Bengaluru. I even dressed her up in cat clothes,” she says.

Interesting cases include a pet-parent who took his blind dog across India including Bhutan on a holiday. An expat couple in the city is accompanied by their pet Chihuahua every time they fly down to hometown Nice (France) and back.

Pet-parents say that owning a pet is a serious responsibility. Ridhima Coelho, who co-owns pet store chain Heads Up For Tails, takes her Wirehaired Dachshund on a holiday every six months. Since her dog loves the beach, Coelho has covered Pondicherry, Gokarna, Chennai and Mumbai. The two spend time at the beach, take walks in little lanes and swim in pet-friendly pools.


Agree experts and observe the rise in the number of pet-friendly hotels and homestays nearby. Vikram Ahuja, who has added a pet vacation vertical at his travel company Byond Travel, notes that the trend picked up in the past one year. “Changing mindset of millennials, who look at pets as family and increasing number of petfriendly accommodations are reasons,” says Ahuja.

Pet-parent Shivani Darshan, who loves Kodagu and Kochi, adds, “Growing nuclear family and apartment culture have made pet vacations mandatory. There are no designated areas in most gatedcommunities. Traffic-laden roads are unsafe. Pets go into depression if they are left behind recurrently,” she says.

Anand Vishwanath, canine behaviourist and owner of Anvis Inc. pet transportation, notes a 25% growth in the number of pet-vacations since 2012. “Bengaluru is a trendsetter. We are home to more pet-parents, stores and services than any other Indian city. The city has a well-travelled population of techies and expats who are clued in to global pet trends,” says Vishwanath.