On National Pet Day right this moment, Rithvikk Dhanjani will get excited as he talks about his pet canine Murphey. The actor informs that whereas he all the time needed a pet, his mom was fully in opposition to it. But then Murphey got here to his life as a consequence of his shut buddies and actor-couple Ravi Dubey and Sargun Mehta. “When they had their first puppy Moyo, I felt like it was my calling. I requested Sargun if she could get me one of Moyo’s brothers.”
But the 35-year-old nonetheless didn’t know tips on how to persuade his mom, so he made a cheeky plan. “It was my sister’s birthday, and I thought I would just show up with a puppy. If mom asks, I would say it’s my sister’s gift and my sister could say it’s me who gave it to her. Mom would have to deal with it. And today, the situation is that my mom can disown me, but she can’t disown Murphey,” he quips.
Dhanjani swells with satisfaction as he talks about being a pet mum or dad. He says, “Having a pet is not just like having any dog or cat, it’s also an emotional fallback. That kind of love can never be replaced. My baby sometimes even becomes my parent when I don’t have anyone to talk to. He listens, he understands and he is there in my highs and lows.”
The actor even revealed a magical incident when Murphey took over his issues on himself. “When Murphey was 1.5-2 years old, I had caught a very bad malaria or cold. I couldn’t get out of bed but the next day, I woke up all fresh like nothing had happened. Then, the next thing we see is that Murphey has fallen sick with fever. People say your pet take your problems over them. I don’t know how much of it is true, but I did experience it,” he shares, including that seeing Murphey sick brings his life to “a complete halt”.
Dhanjani shares that Murphey may be very afraid of different animals however is a human pleasant canine. He says, “He is so vulnerable with humans that we have to remind him it’s his job to protect us and not go out with any human that comes home.” He recalled that after Murphey walked out with a laundry man and was lacking for some time. “When my mom woke up and didn’t find Murphey at home, we started looking. Me and my sister rushed back home to search for Murphey and then we found him chilling in the refuge area,” he reveals.
A proud pet mum or dad, Dhanjani laments the dearth of animal cruelty legal guidelines in India. “It breaks my heart to see people doing animal cruelty can get out on bail for mere small amounts. There has to be an association formed in the government for animals. Humans and animals are supposed to coexist, and for that, we need to give protection to every living being, be it animals or trees. We need stricter laws against animal cruelty,” he ends.
