Sidharth Malhotra Celebrates World Animal Day; Asks Everyone To Participate In Animal Welfare

As the people around the globe witnessed 'World Animal Day' on October 4, 2018, Bollywood actor Sidharth Malhotra also joined the celebration. The actor who is known for his love for animals urged his fans and followers to come forward for the welfare of the wildlife. To mark the day, the actor took to social media on Thursday and shared a video of him petting an elephant. In the post, he asked everyone to take the initiative to help the animals and help take care of them. He captioned the post as, "We need to open our arms to the animals of the world. So many need our help. Some need to be adopted, some need basic care & some need to live in their natural habitat. The least we can do is talk & acknowledge. Participate. Show you care. Spread the word. #WorldAnimalDay"

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Here's the post:

The adorable video shared the 33-year-old actor has won the hearts of the netizens. It has been viewed by over 22,000 people within hours of posting it. Meanwhile, on the work front, the 'Hasee Toh Phasee' star who made his last on-screen appearance in Neeraj Pandey's 'Aiyaary' in 2018 has been roped for Prashant Singh's upcoming venture 'Jabariya Jodi'. The actor will be featured opposite Parineeti Chopra in the comedy film. The film is co-produced by Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor, and Shailesh. R. Singh and is scheduled to release in 2019. 

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World Animal Day is celebrated annually on October 4 to raise the awareness about animal rights and their welfare. The official website of the same states that the mission of this particular day is "to raise the status of animals in order to improve welfare standards around the globe." The initiative was taken up by Heinrich Zimmermann, a German writer and publisher of the magazine 'Mensch und Hund' also known as 'Man and Dog'. He organized the first World Animal Day on 24 March 1925 at the Sports Palace in Berlin, Germany and over 5,000 people attended the event. However, in 1929, it was celebrated for the first time on October 4 as it is the day of Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology, including animals. Legend has it that Saint Francis was able to talk to animals.