Do animals spread COVID-19 or Coronavirus?

Pets always give love and not the bloody virus. Stop abandoning them.

We all know that globally we are facing epidemic diseases due to the COVID-19, or coronavirus. It is a big threat to human lives in the current situation. All countries are trying their best to overcome this situation.

Many of you have heard about coronavirus disease in dogs which is “Canine coronavirus disease (CCoV)”. And many people have misunderstood it and relating it with novel coronavirus without any knowledge and started abandoning their dogs.

So basically Canine coronavirus (CCoV) and SARS-CoV-2 are not the same viruses. SARS-CoV-2 is the one that causes novel coronavirus (COVID-19). CCoV does not have any effect on humans. It causes gastrointestinal problems in dogs.

Due to the misunderstanding of many pet owners, we can see many dogs are abandoned and they have even no shelter. Due to this situation, people are not going outside mostly and the animals are not having even proper food and water. People used to say if I feed them I will be contaminated by COVID-19 which is totally wrong.

As in the current situation, many stray animals are running out of food and water. No one is there to feed them due to this misconception. Though there are few good souls who have still continued to feed them with proper precautions, and that’s great. We need to learn from them.

Rather than abandoning your dog, you can follow a few safety manners and perhaps this is the best time to spend with your dog and the great bond is on the way.

You can take your dog for a walk but not too far and limit it to your compound or just in the society boundary. You can increase the time and let them sniff everything around. But be sure to put on a mask and other precautions for yourself.

Be sure to clean your dog once you get back home after a walk. Clean their paws, ears and if possible do comb even. Possibly you can give a dry bath at a specific interval.

You may also think about what to do for the whole day. So you can play some mind games with your dog. Keep doing various activities with your dog. Play fun games like tug of war, hide and seek and many more with your dog.

You may also make it a training session. If the dog has been trained then you can do practice again of those commands to recall them. Try to teach him new things. Watch youtube videos to teach new things or you can consult a professional also to take online advice for teaching new things.

Also, keep basic medicines always at home with you for any case of emergency. In any emergency, call your vet first to take advice if you can’t take him to the vet. Ask your vet to have a home visit if possible as it will be allowed. Don't panic about anything, just be calm and take care of your pet.

Even as a pet lover we need to think about the stray animals. As they are not getting proper food and water nowadays due to lockdown situation so let’s take the pledge to at least put a water bowl outside our home so they can easily get access to it.

People don’t prefer to get in touch with strays so at least you can put some food at the nearest location where you can safely go and there is no risk. So they will get food too.

Nothing to panic. We just need to take safety measures and we are good. The same way we will be safe and they will also get their needs to survive.

There are few groups who are feeding strays so if you are not able to go outside you can contact them and donate some amount so they can get food and feed the strays.

Think we are going to do such a humble job by doing such things and nature will be in good shape again.

Now we must spread awareness and positivity.