Actor Ushna Shah has written an open letter to Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Maryam Nawaz, calling for stronger action against animal cruelty in the province.
In her Instagram post, Shah began by acknowledging improvements in Punjab, including women’s safety, cleanliness and public order.
“You are almost perfect,” she wrote. But she said there is a “silence” when it comes to repeated cases of animal abuse.
She highlighted a viral video that showed a dog tied to a vehicle and dragged along a road in Punjab, noting that many social media users blamed the government for failing to prevent such acts.
“People wrote that Maryam Nawaz is killing animals. Whether fair or unfair, this is the perception forming,” Shah said.
Her concerns went beyond individual incidents as she cited dog fighting, beatings of donkeys, animals injured during anti-encroachment operations and violent treatment at markets.
She also proposed province-wide spaying and neutering programmes, stricter enforcement of existing cruelty laws, humane regulation of donkey carts, banning private ownership of wild animals and shutting down violent spectacles.
The actor also suggested transforming zoos into sanctuaries.
Framing her appeal in religious terms, Shah reminded the Punjab CM that animals are “Allah ki makhlooq” and invoked the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on kindness to animals.
“May this Ramazan not be a performative one. May we all contribute to making this planet, as Allah intended, a haven for all of His creatures,” she added.
Shah’s post received attention from other public figures as actor Zhalay also reshared the message on social media.
Zhalay captioned her post: “Animals don’t attack without cause. If they are attacking you it means they were provoked, abused and harassed! TNVR is the only answer to the problem of dog population. If humans think we can do anything without consequence, think again. Nature strikes back! Wake up to the solution. The heinous crimes against nature will not be left unpunished. Shame on all the people who make videos and avoid intervention. You are just as worse.”
