Porni Banerjee | ২২ জুলাই ২০২৪ ১৮ : ১৫Porni Banerjee

Vijay Sharma, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Paytm has expressed his “love to fund” for a vending machine that releases food and water for stray dogs.

Impressed with a project undertaken by Istanbul, the entrepreneur took to X to support this unique initiative that aims to feed street dogs and said that he was looking for “champion of change.”

Sharma shared a picture on X of the vending machine operational in Istanbul, that generates food and water for dogs in exchange of recycled plastic bottles.    
“Istanbul has a vending machine that releases food and water for the city’s stray dogs in exchange for recycled plastic bottles. What a wonderful idea,”
Sharma said, adding that “I will love to fund this, need some champion of change.”

Many social media users were delighted to come across this post and expressed their interest in participating to bring such an innovative change for the needy dogs. Many also praised the concept saying, “It’s amazing how a simple act of recycling can make such a big difference in the lives of these animals. Imagine if every city adopted this approach—what a difference we could make!”

Animal lovers Engin Girgin and Pugedon from Istanbul had invented an innovative dog food recycling machine in 2014. The dispenser has three openings – one that is used to recycle plastic items and cans and the second one for liquids. The third one is located at the bottom.

There is a sensor attached with the machine that detects if the disposable items are recyclable. If so, a portion of dog food and water is generated from the other two outlets. The main objective of the initiative is to feed more than 150,000 stary dogs in Istanbul.

“A sensor recognises whether they (bottles and cans) are recyclable or not. If they are, then a certain amount of dog food falls into a bowl in the opening on the lower right-hand side. If there is some water remaining in the bottle and the person doesn"t want it anymore, it can be poured into the second opening and the liquid flows into a bowl located right next to the food,” Girgin said in an interview.

“I also wanted to show that people can do good deeds with things they would normally throw away. At the same time, of course, I know that we don"t give much priority to recycling here in Turkey. In my opinion, this has to change. So I basically killed two birds with one stone,” he added.

In the interview, Girgin also said that he has five dogs and an ardent lover of animals also those who stay in the streets and in need of help.