Since starting in China late last year, the Coronavirus pandemic has infected over 2,638,900 people and killed more than 184,200 across the world.
With most countries going into lockdown to contain the spread of this virus, the animals are also facing a tough time as they are struggling for food.
Therefore, India opener Rohit Sharma on Wednesday (April 22) urged people to show their support towards stray animals.
"I would prefer if I don’t talk too much about it (animal welfare). In the past, I have spoken a lot about it. I think it’s everyone’s responsibility to come out and talk about how we treat animals. Like our own family, we got to make sure we have to think about our animals as well. Think about what impact it has had on them as well during this difficult phase," Rohit, who has been a supporter of animal rights, said while speaking during the India Today E-Conclave.
"I can hear a lot of dogs barking because they are hungry. They are not being fed properly. We are trying to do whatever we can from our side and I can see a lot of people also coming forward to help our animals right now which is a great thing.
"But I just want to point out that it doesn’t just stop right here. Yes, we are going through a phase right now. But I hope this continues for as long as possible and we treat this as an eye-opener for us.
"It’s such a beautiful sight to see the animals around us. Mother nature is so beautiful. We should embrace it," he added.
Last month, Sharma had extended his support to the state and central governments in their efforts to combat the rapidly-spreading COVID-19.
Rohit, who is the vice-captain of India’s limited-overs side, had made a generous donation of 80 lakh in total. He contributed Rs 45 lakh and Rs 25 lakh to the PM and CM's Relief Fund (Maharashtra) respectively, while donated Rs 5 lakh to 'Zomato Feeding India', which is helping families affected by the ongoing nationwide lockdown, and another Rs 5 lakh to aid the welfare of stray dogs.
India was under lockdown from March 25 in an unprecedented measure in the fight against the Coronavirus crisis. The lockdown was scheduled to end on April 14 but to flatten the curve of growing cases, Indian government decided to extend it till May 3.
As of April 23, the COVID-19 cases in India has crossed 21,300 with 680 fatalities.
