A woman in India's Karnataka state is still feeding over 600 dogs despite being made jobless during the country's coronavirus lockdown.

Rajani Shetty began looking after stray dogs during her childhood in Mangalore. In 2007, she began cooking for dogs and the numbers gradually rose from 10 dogs to over 450.

During the country's lockdown, the numbers have grown to over 600 dogs and Shetty also lost her job as a cook which made it more difficult to support the animals.

The animal lover begins her routine at 9 am where she drives down to residential areas to feed the dogs. Between 6 and 8 pm she roams market places finding more dogs to feed. At midnight, Shetty looks for hungry dogs on nearby highways.

Shetty has personally adopted 18 dogs who are either handicapped or too old to take care of themselves.

This footage was filmed on October 21.

An animal lover in southern India's Karnataka has strived to feed over 600 dogs during the coronavirus crisis that rendered her jobless.

Rajani Shetty, the woman with a golden heart, who has continued to tend to the voiceless creatures around Ballalbagh even amid financial constraints, is a person who aims to inspire many others to help those in dire need of help.

Her journey with helping the animals began early during her childhood days when she would offer food to stray dogs who used to roam in her neighborhood in Mangalore hungry and searching for any fragment of food they could find.

Starting from the year 2007, Rajani began cooking food separately for the dogs in the area where she lived. Coming from a middle-class family, she did not always have adequate resources to feed several dogs, but gradually the numbers grew from as little as 10 to as many as over 450 on a daily basis.

During the coronavirus imposed lockdown, the numbers grew exponentially and increased to over 600. Rajani also lost her job as a cook during that time, and it became even more difficult to support the animals who were now solely dependent on her for their daily share of nutrition. Somehow, she still managed to buy rice on credit to feed her children starving on the streets of Mangalore.

Rajani's daily routine begins at 9 AM in the morning when she drives down to residential areas to provide food for dogs. In the evening, between 6 PM and 8 PM, she roams around in the market places to find dogs to feed. At midnight, she goes to the highways to look for hungry dogs, since highways are least busy at night and the dogs may get hit by speeding vehicles during bustling hours of the day.

Rajani personally has adopted 18 dogs, who are either handicapped or too old to take care of themselves, at her own house where she treats them like her own children. Her husband is a tourist cab driver and supports her cause much like her three children.

Rajani is of the opinion that if someone truly wants to help her, he or she should start by feeding animals in their own locality. If one person is able to bring about a change in the life of even one animal, she would be grateful.