Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh): It is a common thing to organise chicken and ram races during festivals. Also, bull races have been organised in the past. But, for the first time in Chittoor district, youths have come up with an innovative idea to organise a dog race.
Youths of the district organised a dog race on Wednesday evening and awarded cash prizes to the first 20 dog owners. The competition was held at Chinnaridoddi Panchayat S Gollapalle in Shantipuram mandal of Chittoor district.
At the venue, barricades were erected on both the sides of the stretch of agricultural waste land that was selected for the race. After people of the area came to know about the competition they arrived at the venue with their pets to participate at it. Apart from the dog owners, several local people thronged in the area to take a glimpse of the unique competition.
After the competition ended, the names of the winners were declared. The first 20 dogs were selected and their owners were awarded cash prizes.
The dogs were made to run on the selected stretch while audience gathered on both sides of the barricades. They cheered for the dogs when the race began while the animals ran enthusiastically towards the finishing line. As their turns ended, the owners took their dogs on their laps and received the prize money on behalf of their pets.
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Earlier, similar competitions were organised during the Tikkavireswara Swamy festival in Aija of Telangana's Gadwala district. Dog owners from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka participated at the competition. Twelve dogs took part in the race and the top three winners were selected through lottery.
