PETA U.S. staffers aren't the only ones who are excited that the coming year marks 10 years of activism by PETA India. Just in time for PETA India's birthday, Sir Paul McCartney has sent a letter to India's prime minister asking him to declare January 12—the day of PETA India's inauguration—an annual "meat-free day" across the country.

Sir Paul narrated PETA's hard-hitting "Glass Walls" video, which shows how chickens and turkeys are confined to filthy sheds by the tens of thousands and forced to live in their own waste and how pigs on factory farms remain conscious while their throats are cut. "Were it shown in every school, the next generation would grow up vegetarian, I have no doubt," says Sir Paul.

If you're not already vegan, why not make 2011 the year that you "come together" with PETA and Sir Paul by giving animal-based foods the boot?

The devil may wear a blue dress, but PETA India's new ad featuring three Miss Indias suggests that angels for animals wear red:

Each of these lovelies weighed in on the importance of standing up for animals: 

• Miss India World Manasvi Mamgai says, "Animals depend on all of us to be their angels. Even little acts of kindness can make a huge difference in their lives. I encourage everyone to share the world with animals by always acting with compassion and reporting cruelty."
• Miss India Earth Nicole Faria notes, "[W]e owe it to ourselves to protect the other animals so that indirectly, we help ourselves."
• And Miss India International Neha Hinge weighs in: "Use your voice, stand up for what is right, and speak out against cruelty to animals. Peace on Earth begins with how we treat those who are the most helpless."

Their sentiments serve as a reminder to all—and a lesson for a younger generation—that true beauty is revealed by one's compassionate actions.

Written by Karin Bennett

We've always known that PETA Germany's staff members are dogged in their efforts to help animals, but who knew that they were such publicity hounds? Apparently, our recent blog post about the PETA India staff got them thinking that they should strut their stuff, and you know what? We couldn't agree more. So, ladies and gentlemen, here are the tireless, crazy-cool peeps of PETA Germany.

We can only imagine what the folks at PETA U.K. will be submitting for their PETA Files profile. Stay tuned to find out.

Written by Karin Bennett

With Pamela Anderson in the Bigg Boss house, we thought that people might like to see some of the hardworking staffers at PETA India who are helping to get the word out about Pamela's worldwide appeal not to wear leather:

When most of us in the U.S. are nestled all snug in our beds, our friends on the other side of the world are working to liberate animals from laboratories, to get schools to cut out dissection, to encourage people to always adopt and never buy dogs, and much, much more.

It's good to know that caring people around the world are fighting against cruelty to animals 24/7. Let's support PETA India's and Pam's efforts by encouraging our friends and family to give leather the boot!

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Comedian, actor and longtime animal defender Russell Brand married singer Katy Perry in India's Ranthambhore National Park earlier this week and received an unusual wedding gift from PETA India: a formerly oppressed and now liberated bullock.

Named Russell in honor of the groom, the bullock is no longer forced to spend day after day hauling backbreaking loads—he now lives at a retirement center operated by Animal Rahat, a relief program supported by PETA and PETA India. 

Russell (the bullock) had been severely overworked and was very weak when he was rescued, but he is now roaming grass fields and enjoying liberation from the heavy wooden yoke that used to press down on his neck as he pulled a cart in the heat and dust.

"Russell the celebrity and Russell the bullock have something in common: They are both very handsome fellows," says PETA India's Poorva Joshipura. "The gift of a namesake is also fitting because just as Russell Brand embarks on his new life as a married man, Russell the bullock has also been given a new lease on life—the heavy loads he once pulled have been lifted from his shoulders for good."

Written by Alisa Mullins

I'm willing to bet my last Marry Me bar that there isn't a person on the planet who would call PETA India's new "Lettuce Lady" ad featuring actor Lara Dutta anything less than exquisite:

We know that a vegan diet benefits animals, the environment, and human health. And one of the easiest ways to eat a balanced diet is to think in Technicolor—just about every color of the rainbow appears at your local produce stand. Have you ever considered that you never see green at the meat counter, just blood red and marbled-fat white?

Here's another bet I'd be willing to make: While most people could admire this image for hours, show them these photos, and they'll quickly turn away shuddering. That sort of gut reaction must mean something.

Written by Karin Bennett

Kekka / CC by 2.0

Thanks to the efforts of PETA India and Maneka Gandhi—the daughter-in-law of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and a staunch animal rights proponent—India's Central Board of School Education has banned leather shoes from school uniforms.

Leather shoes are seen as a vestige of British colonial rule, under which they were introduced as a requirement for Indian school uniforms. But in addition to the obvious cruelty to cows, leather shoes are unsuited to India's hot, humid climate, and leather manufacturing also takes a tremendous toll on the environment. Leather shoes in school uniforms will be replaced with comfortable, environmentally friendly, and easy-to-clean canvas plimsolls (no, not those Plimsouls).

PETA's campaign against Indian leather started a decade ago when PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk traveled to India to investigate the transport of cows to slaughterhouses. Since then, dozens of international retailers have agreed to stop purchasing Indian leather, costing the industry millions in lost revenue. Find out more about Ingrid's investigation here.

Written by Alisa Mullins

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kkoshy/ / CC BY 2.0

PETA India hopes that Jairam Ramesh—union minister of state for environment and forests—will heed the message of last month's disaster at SeaWorld and immediately halt plans to build a dolphinarium to house Gangetic dolphins at the National Zoological Park in New Delhi.

Gangetic dolphins are a critically endangered species of freshwater dolphin. They were recently declared the National Aquatic Animal of India, but the way to save them is not by keeping them in chemically treated pools. Most captive dolphins die prematurely and live to only half the age of their wild brothers and sisters. Wild dolphins live with family pods, and capturing even one dolphin disrupts the entire group. To obtain a female dolphin of breeding age, for example, boats are used to chase the pod to shallow waters, where the animals are surrounded with nets that are gradually closed and lifted onto the boats. Unwanted dolphins are thrown back. Some animals die from shock or stress, and others slowly succumb to pneumonia when water enters their lungs through their blowholes. Pregnant females may spontaneously abort babies.

Instead of condemning dolphins to a grim fate in a tank, the Department of Environment and Forests would better serve these endangered animals by taking decisive measures to protect and conserve the beleaguered Gangetic dolphins in their natural habitat. Back in 2001, thanks to the help of many dedicated supporters, PETA successfully convinced the Virginia Marine Science Museum not to add a dolphin tank to its facilities. Instead, Virginia Beach, Virginia, visitors who want to see marine mammals visit the beachfront along the Atlantic Ocean and view the animals in their natural environments. With public sentiment against aquatic prisons at an all-time high, we're hopeful that the Indian government will make the humane decision to keep these sensitive, intelligent, and endangered animals where nature intended them to be.

Written by Logan Scherer

Compassion transcends age. Laura Moll—a 12-year-old vegetarian from New Delhi, India—is a role model to children and adults alike. The aspiring veterinarian volunteers at the Friendicoes Society for the Eradication of Cruelty to Animals, a local animal shelter, and records her efforts to help animals on her moving Web site.

Warning: The beautiful and poignant photographs of the many homeless animals who have touched Laura's heart—photographs that she hopes will encourage people to adopt these animals—just might move you to tears.

For her unwavering dedication to homeless animals, Laura has received PETA India's Hero to Animals Award and a card signed by PETA India staff members.

Whether you live in India or Kentucky—whether you are 9 years old or 86 years old—helping animals in your community is as easy as ABC.

Written by Logan Scherer

scrapetv / CC

Behold: a visit from Captain Obvious. As if the world needed another example of the proven link between violence against animals and violence against humans, Ghulam Rasool Khan—a suspected al-Qaida member jailed in India—refuses to eat the vegetarian food served to him, instead demanding "two kg of mutton and one kg of chicken daily."

Khan has threatened to go on a hunger strike if he doesn't get his carcasses. But if PETA India's recent request that all jails serve only vegetarian meals is honored, then the bloodthirsty terrorist will be starving himself indefinitely.

Written by Logan Scherer