National badminton champion and Hyderabad native Jwala Gutta stopped on her way to the Olympics to join PETA India to call attention to the miserable lives of animals in captivity. Gutta held a poster that read, "Be a Champion: Boycott Zoos", and also showed video footage of how animals in India's zoos suffer.

"One of the easiest ways you can be a champion for animals is by boycotting the zoo", says Jwala. "In zoos, animals are incarcerated, often chained and are denied most of their natural behaviours. PETA and I want to remind parents that if their kids love animals, then the last place that they should take them is to watch animals be miserable in zoos."

Despite the 2009 Central Zoo Authority directive banning the keeping of elephants in zoos and requiring zoos to gradually move elephants to forested areas, the Hyderabad Zoo still exhibits elephants. Captive elephants are separated from their families as babies and are sentenced to lifetimes of boredom, loneliness and even abuse. They are often forced to stand on hard concrete and spend hours on end in chains.

Gutta joins a growing list of athletes and other celebrities – including cricketer Wayne Parnell, sitar player Anoushka Shankar and actor Rahul Khanna – who have teamed up with PETA to speak out against the cruelty of zoos.

Join the campaign now by taking the pledge to boycott zoos.

PETA India has written to Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi asking him to allow us to put the covered Uttar Pradesh elephant statues to good use. While the statues are covered, PETA India would like to put banners on them that read, "Cover-Up by the Big Top: Elephants in the Circus Are Beaten and Shackled". Here is a mock-up of what the banner would look like on a covered elephant statue.

This high-profile "cover-up" would help expose the cruelty to animals that circuses work hard to cover up. When they're not being forced to perform meaningless tricks that are confusing to them, elephants used in circuses are kept shackled. These majestic creatures are trained through beatings and the fear of physical punishment. Circuses are no fun for other animals either. Birds used in circuses often have their wings clipped, which prevents them from engaging in their most important natural behaviour: flying. Horses are often kept tethered with short ropes, and dogs are locked in cages.

PETA India Chief Functionary Poorva Joshipura wrote, "The covering of the statues and party symbols has caught the attention of people around the globe. By allowing us to place these banners on the elephant statues, you would help us encourage people worldwide to boycott circuses, thereby helping countless animals whose pain goes unnoticed. Supporting us in this good deed may also help to quiet those who have criticised the move to cover the statues. It would be a win-win situation".

Would you like to see the elephant statues being used this way?

We've grown up listening to and humming along to his soulful ghazals. His magical voice has touched the hearts of millions of people around the world, and now that Jagjit Singh is gone, he will always be remembered for this beautiful voice and for his decision to use it to speak up for those whose cries often go unheard: animals.

As the world pays tribute to the legendary singer, we take this time to remind you that Singh helped PETA's campaign to stop elephants from being needlessly killed by speeding trains on railway tracks. His efforts to help stop the cruelty to these magnificent giants will live on through PETA's campaign until adequate steps are taken by the government to end their suffering. Singh had fired off a letter to former Railways Minister Kumari Mamata Banerjee calling on her to use her time in the Ministry to limit the speed of trains running through elephant corridors and to use speed-detection guns – successfully demonstrated by PETA – to monitor train speeds.

"It is difficult to understand why elephants continue to die when there are ways to solve this problem", wrote Singh, who noted that strict speed limits are particularly important in areas where elephants are common. "A speed-detection device, which PETA has procured and demonstrated, offers an effective, simple way to slow down trains. Drivers going at dangerous speeds could be punished, and notifying conductors that such monitoring is taking place will encourage them to slow down."

In Jagjitji's honour, become a part of the campaign that was close to his heart. Take action to help elephants here.