The AWBI had issued a legal notice to Vodafone accusing the company of allegedly indulging in cruelty to Rocky during the filming of an advertisement that shows him running after a school bus. In the notice issued on 25 April the AWBI said, "The pet dog was made to run, gallop and chase the school van for a long time on a public road. Thereby, the dog was made to undergo severe pain and suffering due to the exhaustion caused by chasing the bus."
Speaking to reporters, Rocky, India's first superstar pug said that thanks to his employers, he is treated as royalty amongst all breeds of dogs. "I'm enjoying the privilege of being India's most famous and popular pug. Running and chasing a school van is a very small price to pay in exchange of superstardom" said Rocky.
"We pugs love running, galloping and chasing stuff and spend most of our waking hours running, galloping and exhausting ourself on our own freewill. In fact, denying pugs the freedom to run and gallop would constitute cruelty, according to me." added Rocky.
Rocky also had words of advice for the administrators manning the Animal Welfare Board of India. "I'm very pained by the cruelty suffered by my fellow dogs, my unfortunate homeless brothers who are treated as menace by society, tagged by municipal authorities as 'stray' dogs, and killed mercilessly in large numbers to control their population"
"Why is so much attention and concern being showered on me, a single pug, when thousands of my fellow dogs are killed (or 'culled' for the politically correct crowd) on a routine basis? ABVI should concentrate more on cruelty suffered by millions of animals who are confined, ill-treated, abused and slaughtered on a regular basis then focusing on one royal pug."
