Everyone wants a pet, but unfortunately, most do not consider adopting a stray animal who often experiences plights. Having a pet is to pinning one’s status rather than providing an animal with much-needed food and shelter. People would instead acquire pricey pedigree animals and neglect furry buddies on the street.

Vandana Sethhi, Founder of Earth Films & Water Communications and, and Creator & Director Salil Jason Fernandez, has come up with a quirky documentary, The Tails of Boo Boo & Cuddly Poo under Earth Films banners to reach out to people about such issues.

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The Tails of Boo-Boo & Cuddly Poo is a unique and first such documentary that shed awareness on the condition of stray animals.

In a candid conversation with Life Beyond Numbers, Vandana Sethhi and Salil Jason Fernandez speak about the importance of awareness regarding the voiceless through their film.

Shot entirely during the lockdown in the regions of Mumbai, it took them over 13 months to complete the project with the help of around 150 crew members.

“I have been working on the grass-root level on animal welfare for a few years. The taboo about stray animals has always bothered me. During the lockdown, these voiceless have faced several hardships. Restaurants were shut down, feeders were not able to get out and provide them food due to the lack of transportation, and the animal welfare community was not well structured to provide the necessary aid,” Salil said.

Salil realized that there was no visual communication tool that talked about the issue. He then realized why not use his skill sets to create a film.

“I had planned for a 15 minutes short documentary but never thought I would end up making a 2 hours 45 mins long feature film,” Salil added.

The film’s title is heartfelt, striking directly to the heart of pet lovers. The Tails of Boo-Boo and Cuddly Poo provides a powerful and thought-provoking message about ‘adopting strays over pedigreed pets.’

Vandana Sethhi’s advertising and media savvy, as well as her creative and cinematic acumen, provided value and direction to this wonderful endeavor.

“We humans are quite selfish, we don’t even acknowledge these animals as a part of our system. We have to first accept them and be responsible by taking care of them,” Vandana expressed.

About 36 celebrities including, Shraddha Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Maria Goretti, Amrita Puri, Shaheen Bhatt, Shibani Dandekar, and others have appeared in the documentary to spread the message about the furry friends.

This project has also brought together 30 organizations, including pet care centers, animal shelters and NGOs, 53 animal welfare professionals, and ten veterinarians from the medical community.

“We followed all the Covid safety protocols during the shoot. It was a passion-driven project, so we pulled our socks to do our best,” Salil said.

Vandana said, “Our main target were millennials, keeping that in mind we wanted to make the documentary different. The font, color palette, gibberish names ‘Boo-Boo’( Cat) and ‘Cuddly Poo’ ( Dog), stand-up comedy, songs, game shows, talk shows, and many more are in the documentary to make it interesting. We wanted to bring out the inner child of the audience.“

From a very young age, Salil rescued cats and dogs on the streets and fed them. He has always been empathetic towards them. He never understood the issue of pedigree vs. indie.

“I always had pets and they were rescued. People are not aware of the whole breeding process. Many do not know the health issues that the mother would go through while they have bred several times in a year. I genuinely believe that education for the voiceless is important from a young age. I grew up in a household which encouraged that,” Salil said.

“I don’t know why our education system does not have anything that creates awareness on such an issue. Many have problems with even others who are feeding and aiding the strays. I have faced it personally. Many have questioned me and have asked me to stop feeding the strays near my house,” he further added.

Vandana said, “Our objective is to educate the public that animals have equal rights to have a quality life. To inspire them to live and let live the furry babies. We also wanted to motivate people to ‘Adopt don’t shop’ through the project. We also want to spread awareness about animal cruelty through the documentary and make people aware of vaccination, sterilization, and other medical aids for the strays.”

The documentary’s two-minute trailer was released on July 14 on social media platforms. They received heartfelt reviews for the trailer.

Mansi, an audience member after watching the trailer, said, “It made me cry. I am so glad that people are creating awareness about the voiceless. I have been fostering a rescue dog who is paraplegic after she was abused, and have adopted a bunny and a cat. I could totally relate to the message through the trailer. This documentary can create a lot of impact in society.“

The documentary has received many appreciative comments for the trailer. They are active on all the social media platforms with creative content.

“It will be a benchmark documentary. We have added all possible ways of communication which will spread awareness. We are entering all possible awards. We are sending entries for international awards, national awards, international film festivals, and others,” Vandana excitingly said.

Next time you want to own a pet, are you going to shop or adopt?

This was story was first published on Life Beyond Numbers.