Indian Celebrities Back PETA Campaigns

A number of well known Indian Bollywood stars have been supporting the activities of PETA in India.

Among recent campaigns, actors Arjun Rampal, Raveena Tandon, Rahul Khanna and many others have signed a petition to the government asking for a ban on bullock drawn oil carts seen in Mumbai. Actor Raveena Tandon also posed with a cow for a PETA advert creating awareness about animals transported to abattoirs. Raveena adopted dogs and cats rescued by PETA volunteers when they needed a loving home and posed for an anti-leather ad for PETA by wearing a fake snake skin outfit.

Actor Celina Jaitly appeared in a PETA ad in 2009 for saving elephants from captivity. In the ad Celina is seen shackled and with bruises all over her body next to a tagline: “Shackled, Beaten, Abused – Stop Cruelty To Elephants”. Celina hosted an event in Switzerland which raised 1 million Swiss francs to help captive elephants. In 2007, Celina’s work for elephants landed her on the cover of the August issue of Maxim magazine.

Model turned actor John Abraham has championed independence for caged birds by modeling with an empty bird-cage on Indian Independence Day in the past.

“Independence Day should spell freedom for all – humans and animals alike”, said John. “Birds aren’t meant to learn silly human words or swing in a cage. They are supposed to fly free in the skies and sing songs for each other.”

Unfortunately, many people do not care about the emotional intelligence of birds and see them as nothing more than colorful pets. The demand for birds as pets encourages poachers to trap birds in the hills and forests of North and Northeast India and bring them to the cities where they spend the rest of their lives trapped in cages. Trapped in small boxes and given very little food & water, an estimated 60 per cent die in transit due to broken wings, broken legs, thirst, hunger and sheer panic.

John Abraham has also made representation with Mumbai administration to ban the use of horses for joyrides at beaches and parks in Mumbai.

PETA India also ran an ad featuring actor John Abraham and Supermodel Aditi Gowitrikar. Both were dressed in outfits made of vegetables designed by Hemant Trivedi. Through this ad they asked people to let vegetarianism grow on them.