Lewis Hamilton Urges Fans to Make Connection Between COVID-19 Isolation and Zoo Animal Suffering

World race car champion Lewis Hamilton wants his fans to connect the feelings they are having during the COVID-19 quarantine with those experienced by zoo animals on a daily basis. “If you are home on lockdown, perhaps you can feel a little of what the animals in captivity go through every day,” Hamilton wrote in an Instagram story accompanied by photos of pandas living in captivity. “Please don’t go to any zoos or circuses because this is what our money goes to supporting.”

Hamilton went vegan in 2017 and has since used his fame to promote animal-rights issues, urging fans to ditch animal-derived foods and clothing, and boycott the exploitation of animals for entertainment. Earlier this month, the six-time Formula One champion visited WIRES Wildlife Rescue Organization—an animal rehabilitation and rescue nonprofit Hamilton previously supported with a $500,000 donation—to witness for himself the devastation caused by Australia’s climate-change driven wildfires.