Film Stars Back PETA's Petition
For Immediate Release:
5 June, 2001
Contact:
Jason Baker (0) 98201 22602
Mumbai – Manisha Koirala, Akshaye Khanna and Jackie Shroff are just three of more than two dozen stars to sign PETA's petition requesting that the minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs introduce amendments strengthening the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The current Act, passed four decades ago, has never been updated and imposes only minimal fines for even the most heinous cruelties. For example the fine for any violation of the Act, committed any number of times, is merely Rs.50. This is hardly a deterrent to those who commit acts of cruelty to the animals. A new bill, which would amend the Act, was drafted two years ago but is languishing in Parliament.
"The Minister must pull the Act into the modern era and offer real protection for animals," says Juhi Chawla. Adds Om Puri, "These amendments will give the police the tools they need to punish anyone who harms animals."
Other well-known personalities who have signed the petition include Anupam Kher, Shyam Benegal, Hema Malini, Mahesh and Pooja Bhatt, Falguni Pathak, Shammi Kapoor and Javed Akhtar. They join Sir Paul McCartney, Jackie Chan, Pamela Anderson, the Dalai Lama and other celebrities in condemning the abuses of the meat and leather industry exposed by PETA.
PETA documented grotesque violations of the law during a 1999 undercover investigation that exposed Indiaís cruel underground leather and meat trade. Because it is illegal to slaughter cows in most Indian states, corrupt skin- and flesh-traders use bribes to smuggle the animals across state borders at night. The cows and calves, who are bought under the pretense that they will live out their lives on rural farms, are marched for days to slaughter in direct violation of the Constitution of India. Those who collapse have chilli peppers and tobacco rubbed into their eyes and their tails broken in an effort to keep them moving. Handlers then cram as many as 30 cows and buffaloes into lorries designed to hold only six to eight animals. The gentle cattle inadvertently gouge and trample each other during the drive over old and deeply rutted roads.
"Animal cruelty is no laughing matter. These amendments will allow law-enforcement officials and prosecutors to arrest and punish the criminals," says Shekhar Suman.
PETA also found that many slaughterhouses fail to meet even minimum humane, hygiene, religious and legal standards for slaughter and animal-handling. Investigators witnessed frightened buffaloes and bullocks being slaughtered in full view of each other on the floor, then shackled and hoisted upside down to be bled while still conscious. Diseased cattle and cattle injured during transport are left untreated.
For more information about PETA or for a petition to circulate, go to www.PETAIndia.com or write to PO Box 28260, Juhu, Mumbai 400 049.
A copy of PETA's petition follows.
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