2-day Pet Fed in Delhi brings together more than 1k cats and dogs

Over 1,000 pets and 5,000 owners attended Pet Fed India 2025 in Delhi, featuring activities like talent shows, fashion shows, and pet care initiatives.

The weekend at the Okhla NSIC ground in southwest Delhi saw participation of over 1,000 pets at the two-day annual Pet Fed India 2025 event.

Pet parents along with their pets during Pet Fed 2025 at NSIC Ground, Okhla on Saturday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The 11th edition of the festival attracted footfall from over 5,000 pet parents across all age groups and the variety of activities included Pet’s Got Talent, fashion show and play zones for dogs and cats.

Thirteen-year-old Haaziq Khan from Daryaganj said, “I was so excited to come that I kept waking up since 3 in the morning and my mother told me to go back to sleep. Finally, at 9am, I got ready, kept my cat Dollar in the bag and headed for the festival.”

A similar excitement was shared by many others who walked in with their pets dressed up in colourful woolens, fancy hair clips, bow ties, and polka dot hats.

Six-year-old Myra Khan from Kalkaji said, “We got my dog Nuggets ready here itself, and I selected a red and green Christmas vibe bow for him.”

Photo booths, lines of shops offering pet food, clothes, toys, accessories, taxi rides designed especially for them, and pet care clinics and grooming salons: the NSIC grounds were packed to the brim on both the days.

Besides, a dedicated “Catapalooza” zone was prepared with a cage capacity of accommodating over 60 cats.

Outlining the safety measures at the event, founder Akshay Gupta said, “There are dogs and cats from different breeds, so to ensure an environment free of hostility, we have a tagging team at the entrance. The team, on the basis of pets’ behaviour, tags them in three distinct categories: the green one means ‘Pet me’, and the yellow and red ones mean ‘Ask first’ and ‘Distance please’, respectively.”

Veterinarian Dr Gautam Unny also launched two books on the first day and advocated for adoption: “I am here primarily to create awareness for more pet adoption than buying, especially of Indi dogs. Exotic dogs are more in demand, but they are not used to our environment.”

The two books he launched are “Pet Care Made Easy” and “Tales of Wagging Tails”.

Commenting on the recent Supreme Court verdict on removing strays from public institutions, Unny said authorities should have first run a pilot programme instead of implementing it pan-India.

Nearly 50 animal lovers have signed a petition addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, regarding the verdict.

“People are saying that they feel safer at night with dogs around and yet the authorities have failed to feel the pulse of people,” said 50-year-old animal welfare worker Ashima Sharma.