Written by Jeff Mackey
Next month, thousands of bullocks, ponies, and horses in India will soon be forced to walk and run as far as 150 miles, hauling carts full of families and goods to the annual Chinchali Fair. Along the way, some of them will collapse from exhaustion, injuries, dehydration, and despair. Others will try to soldier on, enduring injuries from the heavy yoke, increasing lameness, and the sting of the whip.
Animal Rahat, an organization of veterinarians and relief workers funded by PETA, plans to set up stations along the route to and from the four-day fair to bring some measure of relief to animals in distress—and the group needs your help.
The attention that each animal will receive from Animal Rahat may prove crucial. The veterinarians will bandage wounds, provide water and food, adjust or replace harnesses and straps that are causing pain, demand rest for those who are faltering, and give medical treatment to animals who would otherwise lack the most basic care.
What You Can Do
Have you ever had someone offer help at a moment when you needed it most? Making a gift to Animal Rahat is the perfect way to pay it forward—and with the fair only weeks away, now's the time!
Written by Alisa Mullins
In India, kids celebrate the winter solstice, called Makar Sankranti, by flying kites. Sounds like a fun, harmless tradition, right? The trouble is that, as anybody who has seen The Kite Runner knows, kite-flying in the East can be extremely competitive—cutthroat, if you will. Many kite-flyers use glass-coated string called manja to sever their competitors' kite strings. But the string has severed lots of other things, too, including birds' wings and breasts and even human throats. So PETA India held an eye-catching protest during Makar Sankranti to urge kids to use cotton string instead:
Every year, bird sanctuaries are called to assist thousands of pigeons, crows, owls, hawks, and other birds who have been badly maimed. Thousands are killed after becoming helplessly entangled in razor-sharp manja. Pedestrians and people riding by kite competitions on bicycles or scooters have also been injured and even killed. Five people, including two children, were killed and nearly 250 people injured in one state alone during a previous Makar Sankranti.
PETA India is lobbying to get manja outlawed throughout India.
Written by Michelle Kretzer
We know that there weren't any pigs on your table this Christmas, but were there pigs at it? At a festive Christmas party in Goa, India, not only were pigs at the table, they were also the guests of honor.
The Panjim Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) had intercepted a group of people who were illegally transporting about 100 pigs and who intended to slaughter and sell them for holiday meals. But PAWS rescued all the pigs and took them to safety at its shelter. So, since the pigs were no longer becoming the feast, PAWS and PETA India decided to throw them one instead.
The gleeful pigs happily munched on corn, spinach, strawberries, grapes, and other treats, while their proud rescuers doted on them. And as news cameras caught the pigs' mirthful antics, they also captured the not-so-subtle message that PETA India had prominently displayed at the table: a sign that implored, "Give Pigs the Gift of Life: Go Vegan."
UPDATE: Santa Paws brought a gift early this year! We're delighted to share some great news to kick off the holidays—and what could be better than a happy ending for puppies?
Following the dynamic campaigns of PETA and its affiliates worldwide, the 70 4-month-old beagles sent for horrible experiments in an Indian laboratory have just been rescued! A huge "thank-you" to the more than 50,000 compassionate people around the world who e-mailed Indian officials through the websites of PETA and its international affiliates urging them to take action. The dogs have been removed from quarantine and handed over to animal protection groups with the permission of the Ministry of Environment & Forests and through efforts made internally in government by MP Maneka Gandhi.
During its campaign, PETA India discovered that Beijing Marshall Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (a branch of the notorious animal-breeding facility Marshall BioResources), had sent a letter to the airline used for the animals' transport—which has a longstanding policy against shipping animals to laboratories—giving false assurances that the beagles "won't be hurt or killed as Lab Animal [sic]."
While these 70 lucky dogs have been spared lives of misery and pain in a laboratory, there's still work to be done to keep more animals out of the hands of experimenters in India. Air India recently resumed shipping animals to laboratories; please urge airline officials to stop delivering animals to their torturers and executioners.
Originally posted November 13:Thanks to a whistleblower, PETA India found out that 70 beagles exported from China into India and falsely labeled as "pets" are actually to be used in deadly experiments. PETA India is calling on the Indian government to conduct an urgent investigation. It has also asked officials to confiscate the dogs and allow the organization to give them a chance at living in peace in adoptive homes instead of facing caging, poisoning, and death in a laboratory.
As I write, the beagles are being held at Animal Quarantine and Certification Services in Chennai. Their falsified import paperwork should render the shipment illegal, as PETA India has learned that the animals, sent from commercial breeder Beijing Marshall Biotechnology Co. Ltd., are actually meant for a laboratory at Advinus Therapeutics.
People may generally picture mice, rats, and rabbits when they think about animals used in experiments, but a great many dogs—including puppies and homeless animals from shelters—are tormented and killed in laboratories as well. Dogs are often used in toxicology tests in which they are force-fed massive amounts of a drug, industrial chemical, pesticide, or household product, causing a slow, excruciating death from poisoning.
Oddly, experimenters particularly favor beagles because of their size and their eager-to-please nature—a quality that would normally make a person want to protect and care for them, not torture them.
Even though I have lived with beagles and beagle mixes since childhood—including my current companions, Beau and Oliver—when it came to understanding the inexcusable cruelty of experimenting on animals, I never quite "got it" until I saw this picture during a PETA conference. That's when I realized that there could be never be sufficient justification for inflicting this kind of suffering on a dog so much like Beau.
Then I realized something else: No animal deserves to be burned, poisoned, mutilated, or killed in a laboratory. They're all living beings with thoughts, feelings, and desires—including the desire to live free from harm—just like my dog. Just like me. Even if animal experimentation produced reliable results (which it doesn't), it's no more ethical to torture a mouse, a rabbit, or a monkey in a laboratory in the name of science than it would be to torture us or our animal companions.
PETA and its international affiliates are 100 percent committed to ending the torture of animals in cruel tests and experiments, and they've already won many victories. But there's more to be done—and they need your help. Learn how you can help keep animals out of laboratories.
During PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's recent trip to work with our friends at PETA India and Animal Rahat, the Indian working-animal rescue group that PETA supports, she took part in an impromptu rescue herself (as she is—and more of us should be—regularly inclined to do). As she explains:
We were stuck in traffic. If there had been lanes, it would have been about four lanes on either side of the concrete wall on which people live—their laundry hanging on a string, their babies sitting up there, the works. The road is filled with beggar children, many from crime syndicates, just like in Slumdog Millionaire. Beside the wall, there were two children painting a baby's face with lipstick. One dangled a skinny kitten in the crook of her arm, inches from the cars. We rummaged in our toy bag, selected a stuffed tiger, leapt out of the car, and offered the swap. The children were delighted with their new toy, and we were delighted to have saved a small cat from a bad end. Safe in the car, with a lap to curl into, the kitten fell instantly asleep and, oblivious to all honking and motor noise, slept as if he'd never slept before. We named him Craig after the PETA patron who had helped make this trip possible.
We were stuck in traffic. If there had been lanes, it would have been about four lanes on either side of the concrete wall on which people live—their laundry hanging on a string, their babies sitting up there, the works. The road is filled with beggar children, many from crime syndicates, just like in Slumdog Millionaire.
Beside the wall, there were two children painting a baby's face with lipstick. One dangled a skinny kitten in the crook of her arm, inches from the cars. We rummaged in our toy bag, selected a stuffed tiger, leapt out of the car, and offered the swap. The children were delighted with their new toy, and we were delighted to have saved a small cat from a bad end.
Safe in the car, with a lap to curl into, the kitten fell instantly asleep and, oblivious to all honking and motor noise, slept as if he'd never slept before. We named him Craig after the PETA patron who had helped make this trip possible.
You'll be glad to know that Craig has been adopted and is now a cherished companion.
Every day, Animal Rahat is working to make India a kinder place for animals—especially the bullocks, donkeys, and other working animals who are commonly abused and neglected. Please help Animal Rahat by making a donation to support its lifesaving efforts.
When PETA India Science Policy Adviser Dr. Chaitanya Koduri and his wife, Vidya, found Laila, she was a terrified puppy alone on the streets of Mumbai. But after the couple welcomed her into their home, giving her the care and affection that every dog deserves, Laila blossomed into, as Dr. Koduri describes, "this beautiful, naughty girl who will never get tired of playing. She needs to put her nose into anything and everything."
As you can see, Laila—showing her paws decorated with golden turmeric—gladly joined in the family festivities on Ganesha Chaturthi, which celebrates the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the Hindu deity with the head of an elephant.
As Laila's story shows, people who offer homes to animals in need not only save those animals' lives but also fill their own homes and hearts with boundless love. Please never buy from breeders or pet shops—always adopt.
Many of you have joined PETA and PETA India (as well as Paul McCartney) in calling for the release of Sunder, the horribly abused baby elephant who was held captive in spiked chains in a dark shed at the Jyotiba Temple in Maharashtra, India. Despite assurances from the government that Sunder would be taken into protective custody, the authorities fear retaliation from the temple trustees if they seize him, and now the little elephant has been moved not to a sanctuary but into a heavily guarded factory compound where no one can see him. PETA India has stepped up pressure for Sunder's release, including holding this demonstration outside the office of the principal chief conservator of forests, sending a message that he could hardly have missed:
Our friends in Mumbai report that they've been fielding calls from people who are exasperated with the government's inaction and eager to see as much attention as possible brought to Sunder's predicament until he is released. Stay tuned …
In the Americas, many elephants are also held captive and abused by circuses—please help set them free.
PETA is always saying that we wish people would put themselves in the place of animals. But if they won't, we'll do it for them. The founder of PETA and our affiliates worldwide, Ingrid E. Newkirk, let herself be hitched with a bit in her mouth to a horse-drawn carriage in order to help PETA India show Mumbai residents that they wouldn't like it if the horseshoe were on the other foot.
Ingrid let traffic at a busy intersection watch her struggle to pull the carriage, called a "Victoria," just as horses often do. But unlike horses, she didn't have to worry that if the load proved to be too heavy, the cart driver would yank on the spiked bit in her sore mouth or whip her mercilessly to make her force a few strained steps out of her trembling legs. And what do the horses get for their effort? They are denied adequate food, water, and rest and are kept in filthy, damp stables infested with biting insects. Many never receive any veterinary care in their entire lives.
And horse-drawn carriages aren't just dangerous for horses. Passengers and people standing nearby are often injured when horses collapse from exhaustion, get frightened and bolt, or collide with other vehicles.
A growing number of cities in India and around the world have banned horse-drawn carriages, and PETA India is working to make Mumbai the next. Stateside, you can join the campaign to get abused horses off New York City's congested streets.
Update:
Over the weekend, Sunder became violent and uncontrollable and attempted to escape. The fierce outburst included pulling down a heavy pillar to which he was tied with strong ropes and ransacking local retail shops—actions that show that he is suffering severely and is desperate to flee from his abusers.
Pillar to which Sunder was tied
Sunder, back in the dark shed, chained
PETA India has demanded an emergency meeting with Maharashtra Forest Minister Dr. Patangrao Shripatrao Kadam to secure Sunder's relocation to a sanctuary, pointing out that people living in and around the temple are at risk of being harmed or killed and that the mahout and temple management are now likely to abuse Sunder even more as they try to control him. Please write to Dr. Kadam today and get everyone you know to do the same. Urge him politely but firmly to arrange for Sunder's relocation immediately. The world is watching. Thank you.
Originally posted August 6:
You may have heard that just before the London Olympic Games, Paul McCartney halted rehearsals to make an urgent plea in behalf of a suffering young elephant. Now, PETA India has obtained new photographic evidence of the abuse that the elephant is enduring while being used as a living begging bowl and beaten by a vicious, inept young mahout (trainer).
At just 13 years old, Sunder has already experienced terrible torment. Kept in chains in a dark shed at the Jyotiba Temple in Maharashtra, India, he is unable to take even a single step without causing a spike to jab his skin.
When he is taken out of the shed in order to beg for money for this wealthy temple, the mahout controls him with a spiked chain, a sharp bullhook (which is like a fireplace poker), and other weapons that force Sunder to follow orders out of fear of being struck.
Sunder is often seen with fresh wounds that he sustained during beatings, and the marks that cover his body stand as evidence of years of abuse. A PETA India–supported program, Animal Rahat, was finally given permission to provide the elephant with veterinary care for his right eye, which was likely injured from being jabbed with a bullhook.
Sunder is also denied adequate food and water and never experiences anything that is natural and important to him, such as exploring the woods and enjoying the company of other elephants.
A complaint has been filed with police against Sunder's mahout, since the torment that he inflicts on the elephant is in violation of the Wildlife Protection acts of 1972 and 2002 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. PETA India and the veterinarians present are also requesting that Forest Minister Dr. Patangrao Shripatrao Kadam use his authority to have Sunder surrendered and retired to a proper sanctuary that PETA India has standing by to receive him.
Help free Sunder! E-mail the forest minister, Dr. Kadam, and urge him to free Sunder without a moment's delay.
Paul McCartney just made an Olympic-sized move for animals. In the midst of preparations for the London Olympics, which begin tomorrow, he put rehearsals on hold to send an urgent letter to Indian Forest Minister Dr. Patangrao Shripatrao Kadam asking him to help rescue an abused baby elephant.
The young elephant, named Sunder, is confined to a dark shed at the Jyotiba Temple in Maharashtra, where he is kept in chains that have sharp spikes attached to them. The spikes stab Sunder's feet, making it impossible for him to take a single step in any direction. PETA India learned that Sunder also has lesions all over his body from where his handler has beaten him with a bullhook (a sharp metal device that looks like a fireplace poker) and that his right eye is injured from being jabbed with the bullhook.
In his letter, Paul implored:
I most respectfully call on you to use your authority to get Sunder out, placed in your protective custody, and eventually integrated into a herd in the forest. … Please know the world is watching and wishing for a happy conclusion.
You can help! Urge the Maharashtra Forest Minister to use his authority to rescue Sunder and send him to a sanctuary.
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!