Father and Daughter Musical Legends Launch New PETA Commercial
For Immediate Release:
5 September 2002
Contact:
Anuradha Sawhney (0) 98201 22561; E-Mail: AnuradhaS@peta.org
New Delhi — For decades, his music has enchanted listeners
and influenced other artists from Asia to the Americas. Today, her mesmerising
plucking of the sitar both soothes and excites us. Now, Grammy Award-winner
Pundit Ravi Shankar and daughter Anoushka Shankar have struck a chord
against animal suffering in a newly released ad for People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA)—Ravi’s first ad ever. The famous
father and daughter make a plea for the country’s elephants, cows,
dogs, birds and other animals who live and die in misery because the
penalty for cruelty in the 42-year-old Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Act (PCAA) is outdated and inadequate.
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Click on the image above to view Anoushka
and Ravi's new ad for PETA. Click here
for the U.S. version of this ad.
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Click on the image above to view Anoushka
and Ravi's new video PETA. Click
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The print version was shot by American ace photographer Robert Sebree—whose
clients include pop princess Britney Spears, film stars Bruce Willis
and Cameron Diaz and rocker Eric Clapton—the video ad, which will
run as a 30-second public service announcement on TV, begins with Ravi
and Anoushka playing with a goat. Anoushka speaks first:
‘Every day across India, animals are suffering—elephants are
poisoned, dogs are beaten and cattle suffer in cruel transport. The
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act was written in 1960 and has never
been updated. The act needs to be modernised. People who intentionally
hurt animals have to be punished.’
‘Let’s bring harmony to animals’ lives’, adds Ravi.
‘Join us in asking the government to take cruelty to animals seriously.’
[The print version of the ad shows Ravi sitting next to Anoushka, who
is holding the little goat, and reads, ‘Let’s Bring Harmony
to Animals’ Lives’ at the top, then ‘It is time for the
government to pass the amendments to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Act today’, and also carries the PETA logo.]
Ravi and Anoushka have good reason to be concerned about animal abuse
in the country. Laws governing the transport and slaughter of India’s
cows, buffaloes and goats, mainly for the leather trade, are being broken
every day. Homeless dogs and cats are often stoned in the streets, when
what they need is respect and a little food. Elephants in Assam and
Karnataka, desperately searching for food as the forests are destroyed,
have been found poisoned. There are dozens of documented cases of intentional
poisonings of elephants, but not one prosecution. Tigers, lions and
other exotic animals are routinely displayed at rundown zoos and in
hideous travelling shows in direct violation of India’s animal
protection laws.
Ravi and Anoushka join a long list of Indian and international celebrities
speaking out against animal cruelty and calling for amendments to the
weak PCA Act, including the more than two dozen stars, like Akshaye
Khanna and Raveena Tandon, who have signed PETA’s petition requesting
that the government strengthen the law. Sir Paul McCartney, Jackie Chan,
Pamela Anderson, Chrissie Hynde, the Dalai Lama and other celebrities
have condemned the widespread abuse of cows, buffaloes and other animals
cruelly and illegally transported to abattoirs to be killed for their
skins. Madhuri Dixit has sent a letter to the government of Assam protesting
the poisoning of elephants, and model-turned-actor Rahul Dev starred
in a recently released PETA ad, posing as a cheetah to protest zoos,
which first imprison animals and then are unable to meet the animals’
most basic needs.
The government should not ignore the atrocities committed against animals,
as the international community is already taking action. Nearly 40 Western
retailers—including Adidas-Salomon, Nike, Reebok, Gucci, Florsheim
and Liz Claiborne—have refused to purchase Indian leather and leather
products until the treatment of animals, particularly in transport,
is improved.
Despite efforts in 16 states to use training videos to instruct police
on how to implement current animal protection laws, officials have complained
to PETA that, because the measures and penalties for violating them
are so outdated, assessing fines is more trouble than it’s worth.
Although there have been some instances of confiscation of abused animals,
many violators pay a mere Rs.50 per violation. A new bill, which would
amend the Act and stiffen penalties, was drafted years ago but continues
to languish on the prime minister’s level.
‘The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act was written in 1960 and
has never been updated’, says Anoushka. ‘People who intentionally
hurt animals are not punished. The act needs to be modernised. Fines
and penalties need to be brought up to date.’
PETA also found that many abattoirs fail to meet minimal humane 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 and injured animals are left untreated.
To view the new ad, and for more information, please visit www.PETAIndia.com.
A broadcast-quality copy of the PSA is available upon request.
