Pooja Bhatt raises her voice against animal cruelty amid COVID-19 scare

Bollywood director and actress Pooja Bhatt took to the social media on Thursday to raise her voice against the exploitation and neglect which animals are subjected to as the concerns grow over the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 48-year-old shared an Instagram picture of the circular released by the Animal Welfare Board of India which requests people "to not leave the animals or inflict cruelty due to the COVID-19" pandemic.

The circular further clarifies that dogs and cats do not harbour or spread the novel coronavirus and any offence perpetrated aginst animals is punishable under the law.

The caption of Bhatt's post read: "Animals DO NOT spread #covid_19 Please refer to this circular issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India and please do spread the word. Due to various misconceptions and false information floating around, people are abandoning animals, harming them and getting rid of them in very cruel and unethical ways. We need to be informed not ignorant. Let's not make any more animals pay the price for our lack of knowledge please".

The actress's initiative was lauded by her Instagram followers as evident by the several positive and supportive comments.