dont give up on your pets because they never give up on you is how arjun kapoor appealed to netizens recently urging them to not abandon their pets during the coronavirus crisis not just him but many other celebs have also been sharing on their social media handles to not abandon pets especially during this time but on the on the ground animal activists across the country are facing the problem of abandonment of pets which has increased rapidly during the lockdown we are getting fourfive calls everyday for abandoned dogswhile two cats in new york recently became the first pets in the united states to test positive for the new coronavirus there is no evidence that pets can spread the virus to humans according to us health authorities but despite reassurances from national and international bodiespeople continue to fall prey to fear fuelled by misinformation and speculations with many giving up their petsanimal activists across the country are witnessing an increase in the number of pets that are being abandoned everyday we are getting fourfive calls from people that they want to give away their pets suddenly they are unable to take care of their pets in the situation of a lockdown before the lockdown there would be one pure breed that was abandoned in one month in the entire district but now it is just everyday says kaveri rana bhardwaj president people for animals gautam buddh nagar there is no evidence that companion animals including pets can spread the virus that causes covid19 it is a criminal offence to abandon your petgauri maulekhi cotrustee at pfa shares that the number of cases are similar across the country people are abandoning these pedigree dogs because of the fear of the infection and then there are also cases of pet parents being harassed by their neighbours so much so that they just succumb to the pressure and give up their dogs without taking the legal route since these are all pedigree home dogs it is very difficult for them to survive in shelter homes so we are constantly trying to put them in foster homes but in a lockdown situation this is also a phenomenally difficult task she says but what is the legal procedure that one can follow if someone is pressurising you to give up on your pet during this time anyone who faces any kind of pressure from family or neighbours to give away an animal at this time should contact the law enforcement agency and they can also write to us but one has to understand that it is a criminal offence to leave ones pet under section 3 and 11 of prevention of cruelty to animals act 1960 without any justifiable call it is illogical to abandon a dog especially at a time when animals can be great companions for people who are in quarantine she adds what the experts sayat this time there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading