China Animal lovers find their way into empty homes to bring food to abandoned pets because of the Wuhan blockade.

Mr. Mao, a 43-year-old resident of Wuhan, climbed through rusty water pipes to climb the balcony on the third floor and approached the apartment of a middle-aged couple. However, this is not a theft, Lao Mao's mission is to save the lives of two cats nearly starved to death for the past 10 days.

"About 50,000 pets have to stay at home without owners. Volunteers in my group have saved about 1,000 from January 25. My phone keeps ringing, I can't sleep." Mao said and refused to disclose his real name to avoid worrying the family.

He found two pets dangling under the sofa, then called owners in northern China. The couple cried when they saw their cats, saying they should have been home a week earlier but were caught in a blockade after the outbreak of a new strain of coronary pneumonia virus (nCoV) in Wuhan. The couple learned of Lao Mao thanks to social media and sent a text message for help.

Wuhan city with 11 million people has imposed an order to blockade and ban trains and airplanes since January 23. The mayor of the city said about 5 million of these people had left before the Lunar New Year holiday.

Without intervention from people like Lao Mao, many pets will die of starvation. Owners who are isolated or trapped in other regions have gone to animal-loving groups to find ways to rescue their pets.

"I estimate there are still 5,000 trapped. They could starve within the next few days," Lao Mao added.

The hashtag line "saving the abandoned pets in Wuhan" has become the third most searched term on the Weibo social network today, with millions of users.

"If anyone has a dog or cat trapped and can let me in, I can help feed and stream them. I have many pets at home, along with cat and dog food, I know. how important they are, "said Katherine Cui, a resident of Wenzhou City in Zhejiang Province, where the blockade was also in place, written on Weibo.

Pets in many parts of China are also at risk because of rumors that they are the source of nCoV. Some animal-loving groups said the number of abandoned pets increased last week, some of which were killed by their owners. In Beijing and Shanghai, many people are also rushing to buy pet masks to protect them.

The acute pneumonia epidemic caused 362 deaths, including 361 in China and a Wuhan man in the Philippines, the number of infections also increased to more than 17,000.