The number of accidents involving strays has significantly increased over the past few years. More recently in the Covid lockdown context, not only have strays lost some of their alertness to traffic, pups born during lockdown have little sense of vehicles and often end up running towards speeding cars, getting hurt or killed. Most drivers, after hitting a stray, move on without stopping, and few people bother to report or help an injured stray. Most animals involved in road accidents don’t survive or are disabled for life. Several are deeply traumatized after an accident, even losing the will to survive.

Most accidents involving strays occur at night in poorly lit stretches of highways or main roads, as drivers are either speeding or simply unable to spot a stray on the road. The issue, to a large extent, is one of visibility.

My name is Anushka Verma. I'm a student and my campaign aims to make roads safer for stray dogs by providing them reflective collars that would make them visible to oncoming traffic. A dog with a collar is also generally viewed and treated with more compassion than one without, which in turn makes it less fearful and more friendly.