u/Gupshupsqueen

I had listed a few cafés after checking with them through their Instagram pages, but thankfully I decided to call and confirm before planning a visit. Honestly, I was disappointed with some of the responses - a few are no longer pet-friendly, while some were never pet-friendly at all despite giving that impression online.

I genuinely hope more proper pet-friendly food spots open up in our city so pet parents like us can actually go out and spend time with our pets comfortably.

I have a few which I noted already, please feel free to add those that are not in this list:

• Fresstrees, Edappally

• Coz Café

• Inbowl

Would love some genuine suggestions from fellow pet parents - which cafés or food spots in the city are actually pet-friendly and allow pets without issues? 🐾

Any Gym recommendation in and around Thiruvankulam , Puthiyakavu area? Best gym trainer recommendation as well...

I’ve been attending Pawsome Party since Season 1 - as an insider since the early days and as a regular attendee. Sharing this so people can make informed decisions before attending or participating in future editions.

Season 1 was genuinely great. It felt like a passion project - pet-first, community-driven, and well-organized. Volunteers were treated with care, and the overall vibe reflected effort and intent.

Over time, that has changed significantly.

Major concerns

1. Not truly pet-friendly anymore

This is the most worrying part.

- Conducting the event in peak summer is already a poor decision for a pet-focused event.

- There were multiple instances where pets were visibly uncomfortable, and cases where pets reportedly suffered heat-related issues.

- Despite being branded around pets, their comfort and safety don’t seem to be the top priority anymore.

2. Declining quality every season

- Fewer activities compared to previous years

- Repetitive setup with no real improvement

- Overall experience feels reduced rather than upgraded

Each year feels like a step down instead of a step forward.

3. Vendor issues & unrealistic expectations

- Stall planning lacks balance (oversaturation of similar categories)

- Inflated visitor/food count expectations were communicated by one head volunteer, which didn’t match actual turnout

- Vendors ended up with unsold stock and financial losses despite paying higher rent in the last minute than the usual rent.

There also seems to be no accountability when these expectations don’t match reality.

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Volunteer experience (clear decline)

From both personal experience and recent feedback from few vendors, attendees, and regular volunteers:

- Core team volunteers are the ones behaving disrespectfully toward other volunteers

- Some core team members also appear to have communicated unrealistic footfall expectations to vendors, which led to losses, and did not take accountability later - instead responding poorly when questioned ( At the end of the show, we witnessed many vendors had no choice but to do 'give away' and put heavy discounts without considering their loss because of the no. of stock which they couldn't take back, felt bad for them because they trusted this event as ' India's biggest pet festival' but little did they know the show will be utter flop )

- There’s a visible divide:

- Core team → privileges, control

- Regular volunteers → unpaid, overworked, poorly treated, and often left confused

Basic issues:

- Lack of proper hydration at times

- Poor-quality food provided

- Many volunteers left without clear instructions on-ground

Volunteers who’ve been around since earlier seasons can clearly see how much the treatment has worsened.

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Attendee experience

- Overall, the event felt underwhelming and poorly executed

- Crowd dropped significantly as the event progressed

- The main concert by Sreenath Bhasi was delayed and lasted only around 20 minutes, which didn’t match expectations

For many attendees, it simply didn’t feel worth the time or money.

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Final thoughts

What started as a passionate, pet-centric event now feels overly commercialized, poorly planned, and lacking accountability - with a noticeable shift toward focusing more on revenue than on quality, experience, or the well-being of pets, vendors, and volunteers.

From conversations with attendees, vendors, and volunteers, the sentiment is largely the same: the quality is going down every year.

If this feedback isn’t taken seriously, the event risks losing its relevance in the coming years.

For now, it’s worth carefully evaluating before attending or investing in it.

I genuinely hope the organizers take this constructively and bring back the standards that made Season 1 stand out - especially if this event is truly meant to be “for pets.”

________

Dear Pet parents, take note: don’t waste your money on those who capitalize on your love for pets while prioritizing profits over basic event quality; don’t risk your pet’s comfort and health due to poor planning, especially in peak summer;

Dear vendors, verify footfall expectations with reliable sources rather than relying on unaccountable promises;

and to those unpaid volunteers driven by passion, think twice about whether this is worth your time, effort, and self-respect.