The Kerala High Court on Monday allowed a cat owner's plea to go out in his car and buy food for his pets, amid the nationwide lockdown to curb novel coronavirus. Considering the plea filed by Prakash, who has three pet cats, a Division Bench of the High Court comprising Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Shaji P Chaly observed that animal food and fodder were covered under essential items. Allowing the plea, the court directed that the petitioner could go out to buy the food for his pets on the basis of a self-declaration, along with the order of the court. In his plea, the cat owner had alleged that the police did not grant him vehicle pass for buying cat food after its stock ran out. He had submitted the application for vehicle pass online on April 4. When the court asked whether the cat will not eat other food, the petitioner, a vegetarian, submitted that the cats were fed biscuits and seven kg was required to feed them for three weeks.
