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.

 

Written by Jeff Mackey

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.

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!

PETA U.S.’ Washington, D.C., office celebrates the elephant polo victory with cold bottles of―what else?―Carlsberg beer.

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.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

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.

 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

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.

 

Written by Michelle Sherrow 

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.

The stress and frustration of the lengthy confinement has taken a toll on the animals' psychological health as well, and some of them spin in endless circles in their cages, a sign of insanity caused by intense confinement and abuse.

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.

PETA India asks AIIMS to stop torturing its animal prisoners and let them retire to a sanctuary.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

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.

Animal Rahat's buses were a huge success—nearly 600 people took advantage of them.

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.

Along the road to Chinchali, Animal Rahat set up aid stations at which animals could eat, rest, drink water, and receive veterinary care.

 

Animal Rahat posters displayed at the fair warned about the dangers of hitching together animals of different species and sizes, urged people to replace nose ropes with "morkees" (halters), and discouraged people from whipping animals.

 

Many bullocks showed signs of severe stress, including drooling and staggering.

 

Molasses was given to bullocks, who are often chronically malnourished, in order to meet their immediate energy requirements.

 

Animal Rahat staffers urged fairgoers to provide their animals with water and to allow them to rest frequently.

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

Shoppers came face-to-face with their footwear at a recent PETA India protest.

The event took place at a busy shopping center during the International Leather Goods Fair, which was being held nearby. Indian media couldn't get enough of the display of bloody "cow's heads" on meat hooks, and major news outlets turned out to cover the protest. PETA India staffers and volunteers got several opportunities to tell reporters and shoppers about how cows, buffaloes, and other animals suffer for a pair of shoes. In India, as in the U.S., animals used for leather have their throats cut in full view of other animals, and many are dismembered and skinned while they are still conscious. PETA India asked shoppers to choose synthetic leather and other cruelty-free options, available at their local mall.

Maybe next time they can include some cow costumes with fake human skin wrapped around their hooves. Hmmm, now there's an idea for a demonstration … 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Actor and PETA India supporter Sonam Kapoor is making Indian schoolchildren's spirits soar by giving them colorful new kites with which to paint the sky. Kapoor is giving birds something to sing about, too, because the kites have bird-safe cotton strings.

In India, competitive kite flyers often use glass-coated "manja," a type of string that is used to cut other kite flyers' lines. But birds and children can be seriously injured—and even killed—when they are struck by or become entangled in the razor-sharp lines. PETA India is working hard to get manja banned so that the skies can once again be friendly for everyone.

Written by Michelle Sherrow