filmmakeractress pooja bhatt has been feted with a hero to animals award from peta india on international animal rights daypooja daughter of filmmaker mahesh bhatt and lorraine bright who is also known as kiran bhatt said im truly grateful to peta for giving me this award i thank my mother for inculcating in me the need to look at another creature with the same degree of empathy and love and compassion as id like others to treat me withread alsopooja bhatt thanks maharashtra minister for positive stand on bollywoodthe past few days have been a whirlwind in the financial capital and the hub of hindi cinema mumbaiif only i could be that person that my dog really thinks i am i try hard to be that person i shall continue to speak upthe filmmakeractress has supported peta indias campaign to ban horsedrawn carriages in mumbai supported a call for the release of a captive elephant named malti who was mercilessly beaten near jaipur and informed people on social media how easily manja can injure and kill birdsshe also practises what she preaches by keeping meat off her plate adopting animal companions from the street and even helping to sterilise cats in her neighbourhoodanimals have an unflagging defender in pooja bhatt said sachin bangera peta india director of celebrity and public relationspooja received a trophy and a letter of appreciationprevious recipients of the award include odisha chief minister naveen patnaik for allocating funds for feeding community animals during the lockdown and delhi environment minister imran hussain for protecting the lives of humans and animals by banning all forms of manjaothers include singer zubeen garg for calling for an end to an animal sacrifice in assam gaurav gera rohit gujjar shilpa shetty zareen khan cyrus broacha rani mukerji asin and imran khanread also