Shahid Afridi sparks social media outrage over photo of 'pet lion'
Shahid Afridi is all over social media but for the wrong reasons.
The cricketer took to Twitter to post what he thought would be a sweet post about family time and being kind to animals. He shared pictures of himself lovingly feeding a baby deer and of his daughter doing his victory pose... in front of a chained lion.
Great to spend time with loved ones. Best feeling in the world to have my daughter copy my wicket taking celebrations. And yes don't forget to take care of animals, they too deserve our love and care :) pic.twitter.com/CKPhZd0BGD
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) June 9, 2018
Many were outraged by not only Afridi's alleged violation of animal rights but also his lack of safety precautions:
Shahid bhai???? There's a literal lion behind your daughter????
— F (@furreekatt_) June 9, 2018
Where is this? Come how there are wild animals in unnatural environment? Isnit legal?
— afia salam (@afiasalam) June 9, 2018
The lion shouldn’t be amongst people and it should not be tied up like that
— Sabeen Syed🌏 (@SabeenGeopol) June 10, 2018
Shahid Afridi disgusts me. Chaining a wild animal because “don’t forget to take care of animals” ffs what world you live in you are torturing him.
— Sundus (@sundiiiii) June 10, 2018
I’m absolutely appalled with what #ShahidAfridi is doing. You can’t keep a #lion out of its natural habitat all chained up & then claim that u r loving animals. The lion looks weak & so done with life. I feel so bad for it. #PETA #AnimalRights #cricket #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/IiphTknlhX
— Mia Utopian (@mia__utopian) June 9, 2018
Some came to Afridi's rescue as well:
Suddenly everyone has turned into an animal rights activist after watching Shahid Afridi's picture with a Lion. Maaf kardo yar twitter ko ab, harwaqt agenday tumharay!
— Jibran T. Siddiqui (@jibransiddiqui) June 10, 2018
While some asked the question everyone was thinking:
What kind of milk was he feeding to the baby deer that it grew up to be a lion. 😱😱
— Wasif Saleem (@RealSaleemShady) June 9, 2018