Dog lovers

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Coronavirus cannot spread through live animals, continue feeding street animals. This is the moment to be kind and humane.

The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), a statutory body under the Government of India, has written to the chief secretaries of all State governments and Union Territories to ensure the well-being of pet animals amid the Corona virus threat.

In a circular, AWBI Chairman Mr. O. P Chaudhary said that, “It was brought to the notice of the Board that the animal owners are depriving their pets of proper food, water or shelter due to the increasing threat of the virus.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has clarified that dogs and cats are not involved in spreading infection in the current episode of coronavirus infection. “The Board has already issued an advisory to the State government sand UTs to see that the stray animals are taken care of by the local bodies as it their responsibility,” Chaudhary said.

Hence, the AWBI chief has requested the governments to create awareness about animal welfare and advise them against abandoning their pets.

Even fimstars, like Arjun Kapoor, Twinkle Khanna, Kriti Sanon, Mini Mathur and many more kind hearts, are urging their fans and followers on their Instagram feeds to continue feeding street animals, more so now, when eateries, their primary source of scavenging for food, are shut.

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Important Message for Street Animal Caretakers in light of Covid 19 related Complete Lockdown across many Indian States

Important message for stray animal feeders/caregivers in the light of complete lockdown announced by state governments of Maharashtra, Delhi and several other states to prevent further spread of COVID-19:

Please understand that there is a difference between lockdown and curfew.

Lockdown means that offices, shops, malls, certain government offices, public transport etc shall remain shut, emergency services will function and essential commodities will continue to be available.

During curfew, it is advised that people shouldn’t step out unless there’s an emergency.

However, during a lockdown, you may do what is essential and unavoidable, for instance – feed strays that you have been tending to. Nobody can stop you from feeding strays responsibly. Remember, you are merely discharging your constitutional duty of being a responsible citizen as mandated by Article 51(A)(g) of the Constitution of India by looking after animals and showing compassion towards them. Imposition of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code means gathering of more than 5 people is prohibited. For feeding/medicating, it’s generally only one person and probably one more to help/assist. You are not in violation of any law if you do it responsibly.

Please do not panic, there is no reason to.

If any police officer or civic body official approaches, questions or asks you not to feed animals, to begin with, POLITELY explain to them what the law says, that you do it responsibly without causing nuisance to anybody, and that it is not illegal to feed strays, on the other hand it is illegal to prevent people from responsibly feed stray.

If that doesn’t work, only then get an animal activist, NGO or an Animal Welfare Officer involved.

First you should do the talking by trying to reason out, explaining common sense stuff like animals cannot survive on the roads without food, especially when they are used to getting fed by you.

Please stay safe and indoors as much as possible!

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Credits for this Informative Text: Meet Ashar