Bengaluru, 11 July

Every day for the last six years, promptly at noon, 37-year-old ‘Protein’ Prabhu has sat with a basket of bananas at the entrance of the sprawling Indian Institute of Statistics campus, adjacent to the Bangalore University campus, feeding the monkeys that live in and around the area.

Prabhu also feeds about 30 dogs in the vicinity, but he waits until nightfall to avoid agitating neighbours who object to feeding strays.

He is happy that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to feed chicken and rice to street dogs across all eight zones—around 4,000 in total—at an estimated cost of Rs 2.8 cr.

"This is a great step to control dog aggression, and a huge relief to people like me who spend from our own pockets. I spend about Rs 2,500 daily on chicken and rice for the dogs, and another Rs 2,000 for 50 kg of bananas that I feed to monkeys and cows," Prabhu told PTI.

According to BBMP’s tender document, the civic body plans to feed around 440 dogs in each zone. Each day, at about 11 am, a 400 gm meal of chicken and rice—providing roughly 750 calories—will be served at designated feeding points, it added.

The unprecedented move has left Bengalureans divided. Social media is awash with memes and jokes, many of which bring in themes like the "north-south divide", language politics, bad roads, and traffic.

For instance, 'X' user Karan Gowda (@Realkarangowda) posted a tongue-in-cheek remark—"Bengaluru stray dogs eat more protein than North Indians"—which garnered nearly 1,12,000 views in 15 hours.

Another user, Lord Immy Kant (@KantInEastt), wrote sarcastically, "After watching the news of Bengaluru feeding stray dogs with chicken and rice daily, stray dogs from all over India are planning to shift to Bengaluru. No language problems for them."

Chethan Subbaiah (@chethansubbaiah) posted a photo of a puppy lying in a pothole puddle, captioned: "Bengaluru dog relaxing in a jacuzzi after having a tummy full of chicken rice and egg rice."