When a baby monkey fell off an electric pole high above a highway in Sangli, India, and plummeted to the road below, she was knocked unconscious and one eye was left swollen and bloody. Someone saw the monkey fall and alerted officials. Knowing the superb rehabilitation work that PETA's friends at Animal Rahat ("rahat" means "relief" in Hindi) do, forest officials asked them to go to the scene immediately.

Animal Rahat took the injured animal to its rehabilitation facility, where workers gently flushed her eyes and gave her antibiotic eyedrops for a few days. It was delicate work helping the monkey to heal while handling her as little as possible so as not to cause her stress, which can lead monkeys to mutilate themselves. 

A week later, with her health improving, it was safe to give the tiny monkey the freedom and space that she craved, so she was taken to the Katraj wildlife rescue center, where she could enjoy a forest-like setting while continuing to heal.

The monkey relished her freedom and continued to improve while she built a trusting relationship with her caretakers. But life in captivity is not what nature intended for monkeys, and after two months there, her rescue team bid her a tearful goodbye and released her back into the forest. Animal Rahat workers still visit the forest from time to time to see if they can spot her and even managed to get one last picture of the now fully recovered monkey doing what monkeys do best.

sailorbill | cc by 2.0

Following an extensive campaign by PETA India, Indian universities' top governing body, the University Grants Commission (UGC), is officially recommending that all colleges and universities replace animal dissection and animal experimentation in zoology and life sciences courses with modern non-animal methods. According to Dr BK Sharma, associate professor and head of the Department of Zoology at the RL Saharia Government PG College in Jaipur, by using computer simulations, interactive CD-ROMs, films, charts, and lifelike models, it is estimated that Indian universities will save 19 million animals every year.

Animals used for dissection may be captured from their natural habitats or may come from "biological supply" companies, which not only breed animals but also purchase them from slaughterhouses, pet stores, animal shelters, and dealers who sell lost or stolen companion animals. Animals are killed by gassing or drowning and are then injected with formaldehyde, sometimes without first being checked to make sure that they are dead. 

The UGC's recommendations will not only spare millions of animals' lives but also ensure that students don't have to choose between their education and their morals.

Visit CutOutDissection.com to learn how PETA can help you get dissection alternatives implemented in schools near you.

As race fans flocked to India's first-ever Formula 1 race this weekend, they saw PETA India's sexy "pit crew girls," who urged Grand Prix attendees to rev their own engines by jettisoning the meat and dairy products from their diets. 

Going vegan improves our health and is more effective in preventing climate change than switching to a hybrid car, and every vegan saves about 100 animals' lives every year. You don't need a checkered flag to tell you that's a win-win-win situation.

Even if you've never won a Grand Prix, you can still snag a grand free vegetarian/vegan starter kit and get your bod up to speed.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

During the Indian festival of Diwali, people traditionally share sweets and snacks with family members and friends, so it only makes sense that staffers with Animal Rahat, a working-animal relief program in India supported by PETA, would mark the festival of lights by paying a visit to Animal Rahat's sanctuary for retired bullocks in Sangli to share some treats with their friends there.

Rahat staffers also cleaned and groomed the animals and gave them much-appreciated massages, as well as performing the traditional Hindu rituals associated with the holiday. In the photos below, you can see some of the animals in their holiday finery, enjoying their "prasad" (offerings to the goddess Lakshmi—in this case, a tasty banana).

The bullocks also enjoyed a special meal of green grass and molasses (an extra special treat), and the resident dogs dined on a holiday feast of rice and vegetables.

Find out more about Animal Rahat's vital work to provide veterinary care, rest, nutrition, shelter, aid, and retirement to working animals in India at AnimalRahat.com. Please also consider making a donation today to become a supporter of the Animal Rahat program.  

© StarmaxInc

As Lady Gaga heads to India to perform at the Formula One closing party, PETA India has an idea for her next statement outfit: a dress made of lettuce leaves.

Considering meat's monstrous impact on our health and the environment as well as the plight of animals who are dismembered for food while still conscious, PETA India asked Mother Monster to show her fans that even just reducing the amount of meat they eat (or wear) can help.

Will Lady Gaga step into the leaf dress and discover that she was born the herbivore way? We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, you can use these free recipes to cook up some meatless dishes that you'll go gaga for.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

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

Exciting news out of Chennai, where the Animal Welfare Board of India has banned the use of glue traps to snare and (miserably) kill mice and rats, declaring, "Available evidence clearly suggests that the use of glue traps causes unnecessary pain and suffering to the rodents and is against the spirit of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act ...."

PETA's cruelty caseworkers can offer plenty of evidence of the "unnecessary pain and suffering" caused by glue traps—and not just to rodents. For instance, a recent call concerned a bird who had become helplessly mired in a restaurant's glue trap.

You'll be glad to know that things worked out OK for this little guy, whom we arranged to be taken to a wildlife rehabilitator, but for far too many animals, glue traps mean days of suffering before death by starvation, dehydration, exhaustion, or shock. In addition to being cruel, glue traps also spread diseases, which is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends not using them.

The other good news to come out of this case is that the restaurant has seen the light and will no longer use glue traps. Still, a lot of folks could stand to follow the example of these restaurateurs (and India) by detaching themselves from pans of pain.

If you see anyone using glue traps, or if you'd like to see a glue-trap ban in your community, don't be shy—speak up! And if you have rats or mice visiting your business or home, learn to live peacefully and kindly with our smart and resourceful rodent neighbors.

Written by Jeff Mackey

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

You've probably never heard of elephant polo, and now that Guinness World Records has agreed to stop documenting records for wins in elephant polo matches, perhaps you never will again. The publishing giant made the move after learning from PETA U.K. that captive elephants forced to perform in such matches in India and Thailand are torn away from their families, beaten, and gouged with rods that have sharp metal tips.

In a letter to PETA U.K., Guinness Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday wrote, "This decision is in line with our policy not to accept or recognise any records based on the killing or harming of animals."

ravikiran rao/cc by 2.0

Among the other records the book will not recognize are those involving fox hunting and bullfighting. Anyone who still thinks that elephant polo or other cruel "sports" are acceptable should have the divots stomped out of them.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Lately, it seems like PETA's BFF and honorary director Pamela Anderson is on the road more than Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in their heyday—she's trekked from London to Tel Aviv and is now in Mumbai, where she's a celebrity guest on the reality show Bigg Boss.

But as a superhero for animals, Pam can be counted on to speak out against cruelty wherever she goes, so she has sent a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to help the cows who are abused and slaughtered in the cruel and gruesome Indian leather trade.

"India's laws prohibit animals from being crammed onto vehicles in such high numbers that their bones break, ban handlers from smearing chilli seeds into cows' eyes and breaking their tails, and prevent animals from standing in their own blood and being hacked to pieces in front of each other while still conscious, yet all this continues to go on, involving countless animals every day," Pam writes. "I am calling on every kind person in India and throughout the world to join me in rejecting all leather products in order to help put an end to the suffering."