How Pawsitivity’s reflective collars are ensuring safety of strays

Rimjhim Joshi Shende never imagined that an everyday act of feeding stray dogs near her home would lead her to a simple innovation—one that would save thousands of them from being run over or displaced.

The Indore resident, a former school teacher, was also deeply involved in social work, particularly in education and community development right from the beginning.

“I was always drawn to causes that made a difference, whether it was teaching underprivileged children or working with NGOs,” she says.

Living in a locality where strays were common, Shende took to feeding a dog every day. But her perspective changed when her domestic help one day pointed out, “Didi, your dog doesn’t let anyone pick up the garbage from home.” This puzzled Shende–she didn’t own a dog.

She decided to find out, and the realisation was unexpected. “It turned out that a stray I had been feeding had taken it upon herself to guard my home. The dog was offering unwavering loyalty in return for a few scraps of food,” she says.

Shende named her Timmy, and from that moment, she began seeing strays in a new light. Until then, she was feeding him leftovers, but now she started cooking food for him. If one small act of kindness could mean so much to a dog, imagine what more she could do. She befriended many more “Timmys” in the neighbourhood, feeding and looking after them.

In 2016, one of the strays she regularly fed—a black, ageing dog—was hit by a car late at night. The driver had stopped but didn’t know what to do, leaving the injured dog to struggle on the roadside.

“I found out too late. If only he had been more visible… if only there was a way to prevent this,” Shende introspects.

She kept replaying the accident in her mind. The more she thought about it, the more determined she became to find a solution.

Making strays visible

Shende’s research led her to reflective materials used on cows’ horns and firefighters’ gear. That’s when it struck her—what if stray dogs wore reflective collars so drivers could see them in time?

Without any background in design or production, she began experimenting, stitching her first collars using denim and makeshift reflective strips. She then moved to cloth and nylon strips, and after many iterations, found the right one.

“At first, I tested them on the dogs in my neighborhood. The results were encouraging—fewer near-misses, fewer accidents. Seeing the impact, I began distributing collars to other rescuers and feeders,” says Shende.

Between 2016 and 2019, Shende distributed over 10,000 collars, but soon, the demand grew.

In 2019, Shende and her husband Tushar Shende registered Pawsitivity as a business. They have ensured the collars remain accessible at just Rs 40 each—affordable to everyone, especially rescuers and animal groups.

In 2023, they introduced QR code-enabled collars.

“These QR codes store a dog’s location, medical history, and caretaker details. If a dog gets lost, anyone can scan the collar and help reunite them with their feeder, Shende elaborates.

This is especially helpful during festive seasons like Diwali when dogs run away from their neighbourhoods due to the noise of firecrackers. Rescuers have a hard time tracking and bringing them back. Also, since stray dogs are highly territorial when they wander into another area, they are bitten by other dogs.

The impact of Pawsitivity was immediate. In its first year, it helped over 70 lost dogs find their way home during Diwali alone.

As Pawsitivity grew, another transformation took root. Shende, who once struggled to sew a button, began employing women from underprivileged backgrounds to stitch the collars.

“My first employee was my house help. She introduced me to other women in need of work. Today, we have 23 women helping us produce these collars, many of them who work from their homes. So far, 150 women have associated with us,” Shende says.

But not everyone sees strays the way Shende does. One of her biggest challenges is dealing with people who view them as a nuisance.

“When we conduct anti-rabies drives, people tell us, ‘Take these dogs away. We don’t want them here,’” she shares. 

“They don’t understand that removing strays from neighbourhoods doesn’t solve the problem, an imbalance will be created with the rodent and rat population increasing. Also, on the collar drives, people gang up to target rescuers, and we are worried for our safety,” she adds.

Awareness in schools

Recognising that fear and misinformation about stray dogs often start in childhood, Shende started conducting awareness sessions in schools, mostly among primary and middle-school students.

“We can’t always change adults’ perspectives, but we can raise a compassionate generation. Children ask the right questions. They want to learn. And if they grow up understanding how to coexist with animals, we can create a better future for everyone and avoid man-animal conflict,” Shende asserts.

Her sessions focus on teaching kids how to safely interact with strays, understand dog behaviour, and respond to situations like a dog chase or a barking encounter.

Using stories, interactive activities, and real-life examples, her sessions help kids learn simple rules—don’t startle a sleeping dog, don’t run near a pack, and don’t throw stones.

So far, Pawsitivity has conducted sessions in  14 schools in Indore, and Shende is determined to expand these awareness sessions to more cities.

The Pawsitivity collars are available on its own website and on Amazon, and it has sold over Rs 20 lakh collars so far.

“We plan to raise funds to provide sewing machines to more women and also expand our programmes. We are also looking to provide collars to cows as many of them roam on the highway and are in danger of being hit,” she concludes.