'My dog is my family': Pet owners respond to misinformation around coronavirus

As the country battles with the spread of COVID-19, social media is flooded with misinformation around the highly contagious virus.

New Delhi [India] Mar 22 : As the country battles with the spread of COVID-19, social media is flooded with misinformation around the highly contagious virus.

One piece of misinformation which is harming the society in the most significant manner is that of pets and mals spreading the disease caused by coronavirus.

Getting influenced by it, many pet parents are abandoning mals in an attempt to keep themselves and their families safe.

However, both the World Health Orgsation (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have denied any such claims.

"CDC has not received any reports of pets or other mals becoming sick with COVID-19," read a statement by CDC.

Speaking to about the current scenario of fear, Sudesna Sharma, the owner of a dog and a cat, said, "What people need to understand is COVID-19 does not spread through mals like dogs and cats. I have read news like people are abandoning pets just because they are scared of the spread. It's absolutely unnecessary."

When asked about how she is taking care of her pets in the tough times that the country is facing, Sudesna said, "Right now I am a bit overprotective about my babies. Clean diet and hygiene is what I am following. And most importantly ignoring remarks from people who are telling me it's not safe to keep them."

Another pet owner hailing from New Delhi, Chandan Prasad told that though WHO says that there are no present studies that support the fact that pets get contracted by coronavirus but if future studies prove that they can be infected even then they should not be abandoned.

"Even if it did spread from pets...I would have given them proper treatment and not abandoned them on the streets. Abandoning pets is something very inhumane, they are my family and they should be treated the same way you treat your family members," Prasad told .

"Would your parents abandon you just because you're sick? No right? It's the same with them. My dog is my family and I would never abandon him," said another pet parent Shreya Roy.

With a spurt in the cases of coronavirus, many cities are under lockdown which seems to be the only way to prevent the spread of the virus.

But at the same time, it can pose a serious threat to pets and many pet parents are currently focusing on stocking up a good amount of food for their pawed family member.

"Safety sure is important but since dogs are safe from corona my attention is more towards stocking enough food for him in case of a complete lockdown," Roy told .

According to the latest data by the World Health Orgsation (WHO), COVID-19 has globally claimed over 11,201 live and 2,67,013 people have been tested positive for it.

( With inputs from ANI )