Mangaluru: With the release of the heart-warming 777 Charlie film, Mangaluru is seeing a sudden rise in the demand for the Labrador breed of dogs. The Mangaluru city police also named its latest canine recruit Charlie (pictured above). The movie had left Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, too, in tears as he was reminded of his pet that died recently. The price for a male Labrador has risen from around Rs 9,000 to Rs 12,000-Rs 13,000, and to Rs 8,000 for a female.

Animal activist and founder of welfare group, Mr Rescuer, Tauseef Ahmed rued that the film has had an adverse effect. “The purpose of the movie is lost when people, after watching the movie, go and buy puppies from unethical breeders. We have received information that breeders are getting several requests specifically for Labradors. When puppies are not available locally, they are transported from other cities under inhumane conditions,” he said.

Callen D’Souza of Boo Waggy Kennel also agreed that there is an increase in the demand for Labs since the movie’s release.

Swaroop Shetty of Pets and Paws said said there was a similar demand for pugs when an advertisement featuring the breed was released years ago and it became a hit. He drew a comparison with the short-term popularity of pets during the Covidinduced lockdown. “People rushed to buy pets during the lockdown. Once the situation returned to normal, and work from office resumed, many people gave up their puppies,” he said.

Dr Yashaswi Naravi, a veterinarian at Little Paws, said that it is too early to ascertain the demand, but a spike in demand could lead to a rise in inbreeding which, in turn, could lead to congenital defects in dogs, he added.