‘WE WORSHIP ANIMALS AS IDOLS, BUT...’

Actor Sidharth Malhotra talks about his visit to an animal rights NGO in Mathura; says our animal welfare laws not strict enough

Often, for actors who live away from their families, juggling hecti schedules, pets are the only family members they manage to spend time with. Sidharth Malhotra, too, lives alone in Mumbai with his pet dog Oscar and considers his time with him sacrosanct.

“[Oscar] is my only family in the city because my folks live in Delhi,” says Sidharth. “I have always been fond of animals and I make sure to spend a lot of time with my pet. But because I have a hectic life and I have to travel constantly, I ensure that I have very good people to take care of my dog in Mumbai in my absence. My house help loves him as much as I do,” he adds.

Talking about his visit to an animal welfare NGO, Wildlife SOS, in Mathura on April 16 (marked as Save The Elephant Day), Sidharth stresses on the fact that animals need to be treated better. “The idea was to celebrate the day. I became aware of Wildlife SOS when they rescued Gajaraj, an elephant, about a year ago, from being tortured. I met Gajaraj and I also saw all the other elephants in Mathura that were rescued, who are now happy, healthy and well taken care of. It was an amazing chance for me to see the kind of work these people were doing. We, as human beings, need to realise that this world is not only for us. It is meant to be shared by other creatures as well.”

He continues, “In a country where we worship Lord Ganesha, it’s very unfair that we don’t show our devotion to them in reality. We don’t have enough laws to take care of them. It is very discomforting and sad to see that we worship animals as clay idols but don’t show them love in reality. I would expect the same amount of love for a living creature. So far, I haven’t adopted an elephant but my endeavour was to bring about awareness about this cause in India that these animals do need help.”

PHOTO: AMAL KS/HT