If you heard about a group of tigers taking over the runway at the Styles and Trends 2012 fashion show held by Jagannath Institute of Management Sciences' Department of Design, now you know – it's true. Models were catlike on the catwalk, strutting their stuff in a design collection with the theme "Save Our Tigers."

The collection's designers, students at the institute, partnered with PETA Youth to create an unforgettable show that made attendees aware that zoos take tigers out of their natural environments and imprison them in tiny, barren enclosures. Some models also rocked the runway in petaDishoom (now  PETA Youth) shirts.

The designers didn't just make a statement about protecting tigers by boycotting zoos – every imaginative piece was designed without any fur, leather or exotic-animal skins. And considering all the PETA Youth merchandise and literature that PETA Youth handed out, there's a good chance that more students will soon be discovering how inspiring living cruelty-free can be.

Guess who sent back a Mercedes because it had leather seats? Sexy vegan Toby Maguire, that's who! The Hollywood star and PETA US Sexiest Vegetarian winner made no bones about not wanting to sit on cow skin.

While in Australia shooting The Great Gatsby – the film that multiple PETA India Hottest Vegetarian contest winner Amitabh Bachchan will make his Hollywood debut in – Maguire, a longtime PETA US pal, returned the Mercedes-Benz which was given to him for his stay and asked for the upholstery to be replaced with vinyl. The studio complied.

The vegan version of Nick Carraway (the character Maguire plays in The Great Gatsby) has his fans carried away with his unfaltering advocacy for animals.

Yay! Thank you, Tobey. Let's help the Spiderman star by pledging to ditch leather  today!

Bhaiya mere rakhi e bandhan ko nibhaana …

Raksha Bandhan celebrates the relationship between a brother and a sister and symbolises a brother's pledge to protect his sister forever. In advance of this special day, PETA India's "cow" distributed rakhis in Jaipur and urged the public to protect cows by not wearing their skins.

Campaigner Himani Shetty says, "Pledging to protect loved ones is truly noble, and we'd like for the public to extend the same compassion to all others, including animals". Looks like the passers-by agreed with you, Himani, as many of them vowed to protect cows as they would their own sisters.

Our aim was to raise awareness of the cruelty that cows, buffaloes, goats and other animals endure before their skin is made into shoes, bags and other accessories. Pledge to protect cows and other animals by pledging to ditch leather today!

As a part of PETA's campaign to give leather the boot, our campaigner Himani Shetty wrote to the director of education in Punjab telling him about the cruel and toxic processes by which cows are killed and have their skins turned into leather. Now, the good news is that the director's office has issued a memorandum strongly recommending that Punjab schools immediately ban leather shoes in favour of less expensive, animal- and eco-friendly canvas shoes. Hooray!

We would also like to mention that the Himachal Pradesh government has taken steps towards banning leather shoes in its school uniforms. Our very happy campaigner Himani says, "By taking a step towards reducing violence against animals, Punjab – like Himachal Pradesh – is proving that it is a progressive state that cares about the welfare of animals and the environment".

What's wrong with leather? Well, pretty much everything! Take a look at our undercover investigation video of Indian leather industry – which is narrated by Pamela Anderson – and you'll see how cows are beaten and forced to march long distances in searing heat to their deaths. Many collapse from hunger, exhaustion, injury or illness. To get the cows back on their feet, handlers often twist the animals' tails until they break or rub chilli peppers into their eyes. At the slaughterhouse, the animals are hacked at with dull knives.

Join us in making all schools in India leather-free. Never buy leather school shoes for your kids, and write to local school authorities asking them to ban them altogether. We think our investigation video could help you open their eyes. Watch it here: http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=Skin_Trade_Pam_Anderson_india_v1.

The event took place at a busy Chennai shopping centre during the International Leather Goods Fair, which was being held nearby. Indian media couldn't get enough of the display of bloody "cow heads" on meat hooks, and major news outlets turned out to cover the protest. PETA staffers and volunteers got several opportunities to tell reporters and shoppers about how cows, buffaloes and other animals suffer for a pair of shoes.  In India, animals used for leather have their throats cut in full view of other animals, and many are dismembered and skinned while they are still conscious. PETA asked shoppers to choose synthetic leather and other cruelty-free options available at their local mall.

Maybe next time, we can include some cow costumes with fake human skin wrapped around their hooves. Hmm, now there's an idea for a demonstration.