Everyone is holding up in this unnatural and hard time with great difficulties. The fear of the outbreak has made the public paranoid to the extent that some of them have started abandoning their pets which is the most inhuman thing to do. There has been no case anywhere in the world which confirms that pets are the carrier of the virus and can contract or spread the infection.
There are a lot of deceptive posters that are spreading miscommunication and false information regarding the circulation of the deadly virus. Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope also told people not to desert their pets fearing they may get the infection too. He even stated that there are complaints where pets owners are leaving their animals out on the road.
Dogs and cats are left on the road to die without any water, food or home. One of the dogs had cigarette bud marks all over the body; this is an act of shame and inhumanity. There was news in which 4 horses normally employed for tourist carriage in Kolkata died from starvation in recent days, the owners of the carriages had no money to feed the animal. Stray dogs and cows are dying on the road as food in the waste bin have disappeared, considering the restaurants and shops are shut due to the pandemic. Many people have stopped feeding stray animals as they fear to catch the infection from them. NGOs have been receiving an enormous call regarding abandoned pets, which is gradually becoming a big issue.
India’s 3 weeks lock down will get over on 14th April to combat the virus and there are news that it will be further extended for another 3 weeks. But the rumors are floating that animals are a carrier of the pandemic, which has created a nuisance because the pet owners are repudiating their pets and there is even non-accessibility of food for the stray animals since people have stopped feeding them. Since the lock down, all the offices are closed and the strays are unable to get food as all the eating joints, roadside shops are closed. And not just dogs’ even birds are starving. On top of that common man is behaving absurdly by abandoning their pets. It only shows the selfish side of mankind. Animals have become the worst sufferer of the ongoing adversity.
There were certain billboards in Mumbai, which portrayed misleading information on the epidemic, stating that animals can be a transporter of the infection. To dismiss the fallacy and aid animals during the lock down, the Animal Welfare Board of India (nation’s top body for animals) has released many crucial circulars to all the states and union territories, regarding the owners disowning their pets on the street without food, water or shelter as they fear catching up the disease and also that all law enforcement agencies need to take care of the animals and birds so that they do not suffer because of the lock down.
WHO (World Health Organization) has also elucidated that dogs and cats are not circulating the infection. Proper message is significant at this stage because false information leads to abhorrence towards animals.
As per The Prevention of Cruelty Animal Act, 1960 if the owner fails to feed the animal with enough food, water and shelter it is considered as cruelty to animals. And also being the owner, abandoning the pet in any circumstance without realistic cause, which is going to make them undergo pain because of hunger or thirst is also a cruelty to animals. It is a punishable Offence.
I just want to ask one thing how on earth can someone be so selfish to use animals for their fun and later deserts them fearing catching up the infection? What if the same would have happened to your own child would you have abandon them too?
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