Written by Jeff Mackey
Exciting news from our pals at PETA India! Following that group's extensive campaign, the Indian government has issued guidelines to the Medical Council of India, the Pharmacy Council of India, and the University Grants Commission instructing them to completely stop dissection and experimentation on animals to train both undergraduate and postgraduate students and use non-animal methods of teaching instead.
.sandhu|cc by 2.0
This campaign was hard-fought. In addition to writing letters to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (which issued the guidelines) and the entities mentioned above, efforts included gathering petition signatures from university students, letters from and meetings held by progressive scientists, and work by other caring individuals as well as online outreach, celebrity involvement, media pressure, and demonstrations. And of course, the PETA Foundation's administrative, fundraising, and finance departments helped keep the campaign afloat.
Another key to this victory was a recent brainstorming session among government scientists and other researchers in which PETA India participated, making the point that animals are not required in order to train students. Indeed, as the ministry said in issuing the guidelines, "Nowadays effective alternatives in the form of CDs, computer simulations, manikin/models, in vitro methods, etc are available and they are not only effective and absolute replacements to the use of animals in teaching anatomy/physiology but they are also superior pedagogic tools in the teaching of pharmacy/life sciences."
Countless animals continue to suffer and die in laboratories at U.S. colleges and universities—please take action to persuade the U.S. to follow India's compassionate and forward-thinking example.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
Bollywood beauty Dia Mirza put herself in a skinned snake's shoes to ask her fans to walk away from exotic-animal skins.
Photo: Jatin Kampani | Stylist: Theia Tekchananey | Make-up: Nahush Pise | Hair: Shobha Kewal
"[J]ust putting myself in the place of that snake or that crocodile made me feel sick," she said. "How can you wear anything that kills an animal so cruelly to make yourself look good?"
The style that looks good from Bollywood to Boston is kindness. Check out PETA's Polyvore page for oodles of hip, cruelty-free fashions.
Written by PETA
I thought living downwind of the reeking refineries in east Houston reflected badly on the oil industry, but that's just a mere annoyance compared to the suffering of bulls at the hands of oil companies in India. That's why one of our friends from PETA India took over the stage at the Oil and Gas Review Summit and International Exhibition in Mumbai to urge India's wealthy oil biz leaders to replace carts drawn by bulls with modern, non-animal forms of transport. The PETA India staffer was dragged out of the conference—chanting "Shame!"
Let's hope that she opened some eyes (and hearts). Most of the bulls used to transport fuel from oil ports to rationing stations in Mumbai are underfed and malnourished and kept in filthy conditions, and many suffer from chronic inflammation, maggot-infested wounds, infections, or intestinal problems. They are forced to work until they are exhausted, pulling heavy loads through all weather extremes.
To learn how you can help end these bullocks' suffering, see PETA India's action alert and please make a donation to Animal Rahat, which was created to make a difference in the lives of working bullocks, donkeys, ponies and horses.
Update: District Magistrate Naveen Mahajan of Jaipur has ordered the elephant Polo Cup to be canceled following appeals by PETA India and notification from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) that the cup organizers did not register the elephants with AWBI as required and also failed to submit valid elephant ownership certificates. The District Magistrate's decision could pave the way for getting all elephant polo matches banned permanently.
The following was first published on August 17th:
I'll be ordering a Carlsberg beer the next time I'm out on the town, now that Carlsberg India, a subsidiary of the Danish brewing giant, has responded immediately to PETA India's plea to stop sponsoring elephant polo games after learning how elephants in captivity are routinely threatened, jabbed, and beaten with an ankus (a heavy rod with a sharp metal hook on the end) and having a series of telephone conversations with PETA India. Carlsberg also heard from other caring activists and groups who rallied to the call―and we thank them for their prompt action. Elephant polo is a shameful vestige of the British Empire. We are sure Carlsberg didn't think men with mallets charging after a little ball sounded harmful, but when they heard the rest of the story, they did the right thing.
Captive elephants are also deprived of everything that is natural and meaningful to them and kept shackled in chains whenever they're not "playing polo." Citing the company's reasons for pulling its sponsorship of the Polo Cup, Carlsberg India's managing director said, "[W]e respect the concern being raised and hence, have decided to do the right thing." We'll drink to that!
Please thank Carlsberg for making the compassionate decision to stop supporting elephant abuse.
Written by Jennifer O’Connor
Great news from our colleagues at Animal Rahat, who not only stopped a bullock race in the Indian state of Maharashtra but also convinced the organizers to agree in writing to stop the races for good. This was no simple task: The team faced a mob of 5,000 people ready to participate in or watch the race. But with tact and persistence, they were able to spare the bulls from being forced to run.
Despite a recent ban on bullock racing, these cruel events are still being organized in rural areas. The bullocks are malnourished and thirsty and are routinely whipped and beaten. Cruel methods are used to keep them moving, like having pieces of barbed wire wedged underneath their harnesses. Ropes that are jammed through holes pierced in the bulls' nostrils are yanked and pulled so hard that their noses are often ripped open.
Don't let "entertainment" events involving animals in your area go unchallenged. Contact the organizers to get it stopped and contact us so that we can help.
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
After aggressive campaigning by PETA India—including a lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court of India—the Ministry of Environment and Forests has added bulls to a directive that lists animals (bears, monkeys, tigers, lions and panthers) who are prohibited from being used in "performances." This means that bulls will no longer be tormented in a cruel spectacle called Jallikattu.
Jallikattu takes place in India's Tamil Nadu province, where residents chase and taunt bulls in an attempt to grab money tied to their horns. Bulls have chili peppers rubbed into their eyes and are force-fed alcohol, and their testicles are pinched—all in an effort to get them crazed and frantic. Villagers throw themselves on top of the terrified animals in an effort to "tame" them and claim the prize.
PETA India's Supreme Court case challenged the Tamil Nadu government's assertion that state law (which allows these cruel contests) supersedes a central (federal) law. PETA India believes that the new directive also outlaws other cruel events, including bullock cart races and bullfights, and the group will be taking action to make sure that they are stopped. Please thank the minister responsible for protecting bulls, Mr. Jairam Ramesh.
In another chapter in PETA India's fight for bullocks, a "public interest litigation" has been filed in Bombay High Court asking for a directive to enforce an existing ban against the use of bullocks to haul oversized kerosene carts for oil companies.
Please urge the ministry to continue treating animal issues with the seriousness that they deserve.
In the wake of a series of deadly bomb attacks in Mumbai, PETA India, which is headquartered in the city, has been out searching for animal survivors since yesterday. On Wednesday evening, blasts in crowded commercial and residential areas of Mumbai killed at least 21 people and left 120 others injured. But so far, no injured animals have been found. PETA India staffers have been talking to security personnel and citizens, although many of the hardest-hit areas have been cordoned off. Complicating the situation are heavy monsoon rains that have likely driven most animals to seek shelter and hide.
PETA India is reaching out to people through Facebook, Twitter, and media outlets, asking anyone who sees an injured or distressed animal to call the group's hotline, the Bombay SPCA, or a local veterinarian. PETA India staff will be available around the clock to pick up any animal affected by the bombing.
Every day, animals suffer in disasters around the world. To help provide emergency care, consider a donation to PETA's Animal Emergency Fund.
In what was perhaps the PETA India demonstration that turned the most heads to date, a group of women in "cricket uniforms" gathered outside the stadium where the Cricket World Cup 2011 games are held in order to call on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to punt leather balls and replace them with synthetic ones.
By switching to synthetic balls, the ICC would spare cows from cruelty, such as being forced to march for days to slaughter without food or water and being skinned and dismembered, often while they are still conscious, which often happens in India. These days, with the technology that's available, synthetic options can be made to play well while being kind to animals, unlike their leather counterparts.
A cow bleeds to death in a standard Indian leather slaughterhouse.© Anthony Lawrence
We're hopeful that the ICC makes the switch. After all, any game that uses the word "pie-thrower" is right up our animal rights alley.
Even if you don't play cricket, you can help cows by switching to leather-free sporting gear. See PETA's cruelty-free clothing guide for a list of synthetic options.
In India, animals who are used for experiments are generally supposed to be imprisoned and tested on for just three years before they are sent to a sanctuary. But at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences' (AIIMS) Central Animal Facility, some animals have languished in tiny, filthy wire cages for up to 10 years or even, as in one case, nearly 20 years. A recent investigation showed that animals at AIIMS suffer from infectious skin diseases, wounds, and other health problems and that some are left without adequate medical treatment. In PETA India's video footage, AIIMS' employees can also be seen abusing and harassing animals beyond the torture that they already suffer because of their imprisonment.
Will you take a moment to tell the director of AIIMS to let at least the animals who have suffered in the lab the longest retire to a sanctuary? Also ask that AIIMS switch to modern non-animal testing methods.
Every year, thousands of people from all over the Indian states of Maharashtra and Karnataka travel to the village of Chinchali to attend the annual fair celebrating the goddess Mayakka Devi. Entire families pile into carts pulled by bullocks, horses, and donkeys for what can be a two-day trip across hundreds of miles. The animals often suffer from dehydration, wounds, and lameness, and some even collapse from the strain.
Animal Rahat, a working-animal relief program supported by PETA, has provided aid and emergency veterinary care to the animals in years past, but this year, under the direction of Dr. Manilal Valliyate, it went a step further and chartered buses to transport villagers to the fair in order to give the hardworking animals a long-overdue rest.
To help animals along the route to the fair, Animal Rahat deployed four relief teams, including a full-time veterinary team at the busiest rest station, a veterinary team at the fair itself, an on-call emergency veterinarian for the entire route, and an education team that discussed proper animal care with animal guardians.
Animal Rahat's veterinarians estimate that they treated hundreds of bullocks and horses for dehydration and injuries—but by providing bus transport, hundreds more animals were spared from having to make the grueling trip at all.
Written by Alisa Mullins
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
Follow PETA on Twitter!