Bollywood actress Zarine Khan of the "Veer" fame will get the 'Hero to Animals' award from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for rescuing a cat.

The actress, who is an animal lover, rescued a malnourished cat from the streets of Mumbai and rushed her to a veterinary hospital. She kept a tab on the cat's progress and even walked barefoot to Mahim Dargah to pray for her recovery. Khan has adopted the cat and calls her Softy.

"The rescue of Softy shows that Khan's beauty is much more than skin deep, " said PETA campaign coordinator Madhuri Deshmukh.

"We hope that her compassionate action will inspire others to always stop and render aid when they see an animal in distress and to adopt cats and dogs, not buy them, " added Deshmukh.

This award comes under PETA's "Proud to Be Indian" campaign which encourages people to rescue animals from the streets or adopt them from animal shelters.