Just one day after a bull died from a head-on collision with a moving passenger bus, an inspector authorised by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, reported that a bull sustained a crippling leg and fetlock joint fracture during the jallikattu event held on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, in Palamedu.

The terrified bull was being chased by a mob carrying sticks on a narrow road. In an effort to protect himself, the panicked bull jumped more than 10 feet off the road and onto a field.

No medical aid was supplied to the bull, who sustained a fractured leg, until 90 minutes after the incident, and the help that was eventually provided came only after the AWBI inspector pleaded with the police and other authorities to arrange help.

The inspector also reported seeing participants beat animals, twist their tailbones and poke them with sickles and knives. He even saw police hit, poke and prod bulls with their lathis.

Furthermore, the inspector observed organizers forcibly rubbing a bull's nose and eyes with a liquid in order to disorient him.

PETA is now calling on authorities to ban jallikattu since it puts both animals' and people's lives at risk. You can help stop this.

Inspectors authorised by the Animal Welfare Board of India, a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, report that during the jallikattu event held on Monday, 14 January 2013, in Avaniapuram, Madurai, a bull died from a head-on collision with a moving passenger bus because of the absence of a contained collection area for the bulls, which is a violation of the Madurai bench of the Chennai High Court guidelines that are intended to regulate jallikattu.

Participants forcing fluids, likely liquor, down the bulls' throats.

The terrified bull ended up in the accident on the main road after running frantically away from jallikattu participants who had been chasing and deliberately agitating him. Other panicked bulls also ran from the jallikattu area onto the main road into the midst of oncoming traffic. The inspectors reported that no veterinarians could be found at the scene of the death and also witnessed cruelties, such as a person biting the tail of a bull, other people poking bulls with knives and twisting their tailbones and organisers poking and beating animals with wooden sticks and forcing fluids, likely liquor, down the bulls' throats.

Panicked bull ran from the jallikattu area onto the main road into the midst of oncoming traffic.

Although the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued a notification which banned the use of bulls as performing animals – thereby banning jallikattu – the Tamil Nadu government is supporting and permitting jallikattu to be held throughout the state. Jallikattu supporters claim that the events are being held under High Court and Supreme Court guidelines. However, PETA contends that the guidelines are meaningless because they do not prevent the cruelty to animals inherent during jallikattu or stop participants and spectators from getting hurt. During jallikattu, terrified bulls are chased, kicked, punched, jumped on, dragged to the ground and otherwise tormented – acts that violate the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

Bull died from a head-on collision with a moving passenger during jallikattu.

PETA is calling on authorities to ban jallikattu since it puts both animals' and people's lives at risk. You can help by taking action here.

Today is PETA India's 13th birthday! Like all teenagers, we are cool, fun, energetic and outspoken. PETA Youth, PETA's vocal young division, can often be found promoting animal rights at college festivals and concerts, and we love to be active on Twitter and Facebook.

We're pretty tech-savvy, if we do say so ourselves, using social-networking sites and viral videos like "Glass Walls", narrated by R Madhavan, to make others aware of why they shouldn't eat animals, as well as other important animal rights issues.

We don't mind being "different" if we can make people think more about serious issues that they'd prefer not to think about. That's why we bodypainted ourselves to urge people to eat "green" by going vegan.

Our actions might ruffle some feathers sometimes – such as when we urged consumers to choose Jet Airways over Air India since the former has a policy against transporting animals to laboratories while Air India continues to transport animals to their cruel deaths – but we're always going to speak up for what's right.

We keep tabs on current affairs, too, and even told Kingfisher Airlines that we'd help the company out if it painted our colourful and informative pro-vegan impotence ad on its planes.

We're crazy about celebrities, as most teenagers are, and many stars are even crazy about us! We've got a long list of A-list celebrity supporters, including Imran Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Kalki Koechlin, Lara Dutta and more. Teens look up to them, and they're great role models.

Did we mention that we also love sports?

Most of all, we care about all living beings, including chickens, fish, bulls, sheep, monkeys, mice, elephants and rats. We even teach youngsters to be kind and respectful to animals as well as people.

So go ahead – enjoy some vegan cake in honour of PETA's 13th birthday.

Mahatma Gandhi said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

We may call cows used for their milk "mothers", but we don't always treat them with respect. Cows used for their milk are among the most abused animals in the country, made to endure rape and the kidnapping of their young before they are murdered. At a time when India is rightly focused on improving the lives of women, let's be sure not to leave our female animal friends behind. As PETA founder Ingrid E Newkirk has said, "When it comes to pain, love, joy, loneliness, and fear, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. Each one values his or her life and fights the knife".

Rape: When a female human is forcibly and involuntarily violated sexually, it's called "rape". When female cows are forcibly and involuntary violated sexually, it's called "artificial insemination". To impregnate a cow – without her consent – a person jams his or her arm far into the cow's rectum in order to locate and position the uterus and then forces an instrument into her vagina. The cow is defenseless to stop it.

Even those in the dairy industry recognize that cows are victims: the device used to restrain cows for this invasive procedure is called a "rape rack".

Kidnapping: There is no such thing as a "dairy cow". Like human mothers, cows produce milk to nourish their babies. In the dairy industry, calves are stolen from their mothers immediately after they are born so that the milk meant for them can be consumed by humans. Their mothers cry out in vain, calling to their lost young ones. During PETA's investigation of the Indian dairy industry, we found male calves whose mouths were tied shut with ropes so that they couldn't cry out when they were hungry. These babies are then left to die a slow, agonising death in a corner. Once or twice a week, a haath gaadi wala comes by and picks up the dead bodies and sometimes dying calves and takes them to be skinned for calf leather. Female calves will follow the same doomed path as their mothers and grandmothers.

Murder: Cows can naturally live up to 18 years, but cows used for dairy production generally only live until their milk production wanes, when they are sent to slaughterhouses to be killed for their meat and skin. They are crammed onto vehicles in such high numbers that many suffocate, are inadvertently gouged by others' horns or die en route. At the slaughterhouse, their throats are hacked at with dull knives. Often, dismembering begins before they lose consciousness.

Let's work together to end the exploitation of all living beings. One simple but important step that we can take towards creating a kinder society is to leave meat, eggs and dairy products off our plates.

The votes have been counted, and the judges have completed their deliberations. PETA India's Hottest Vegetarian Celebrities of 2012 are Vidya Balan and Amitabh Bachchan!

Vidya Balan is known in Bollywood as a "female hero", and we have to agree. This brainy beauty is quick to credit her vegetarian diet with keeping her healthy, and we're quick to credit her with saving hundreds of animal lives. Congratulations are in order for Vidya for another reason, too: she just married Siddharth Roy Kapur last month. We're sure that the wedding reception was full of heavenly vegetarian dishes.

Vidya is no stranger to sharing the screen with Amitabh Bachchan since the two have starred together in Eklavya: The Royal Guard and Paa – and now the duo is sharing Hottest Vegetarian Celebrity honours. Amitabh's father chose his son's name because it means "the light that will never go off", and Amitabh has certainly lived up to his moniker. As one of the most acclaimed Bollywood stars and one of India's most influential vegetarians, Amitabh is a hero for both humans and other animals.

Congratulations, Vidya and Amitabh!

Want to eat like a star? Request a free vegetarian/vegan starter kit packed with everything you need by writing to JalajK@petaindia.org. Don't forget to include your full postal address.

"Doing brunch" is the latest weekend trend, so why not start 2013 off right by inviting your friends to a nice leisurely vegan brunch this Sunday? Here are some easy, ethical, healthy and tasty recipes you can try.

Baked Oatmeal Squares

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4–1/2 cup organic brown sugar (depending on how sweet you like your oatmeal)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup non-dairy milk
1/2 block silken tofu
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract

Toppings: non-dairy milk, sliced bananas, strawberries, peanut or almond butter

• Preheat the oven to 175ºC.
• In a large bowl, combine the oats, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and cranberries.
• In a blender or food processor, combine the non-dairy milk, tofu, applesauce and vanilla and process until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.
• Spread the mixture into a 20-centimetre-by-20-centimetre pan that has been lightly coated with cooking spray and bake for approximately 40 minutes.
• Cut into squares and serve with desired toppings.

Makes 4 servings
This recipe comes from OneGreenPlanet.org.

Chickpea Flour Omelette

1 Tbsp flaxmeal
1/2 cup warm water
1 Tbsp oat flour, flax meal or chia seed meal
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black salt (kala namak)
1/8 tsp garlic powder
Pinch turmeric
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup chickpea flour (besan)
1/2 cup mixed vegetables (onions, bell peppers, tomatoes and carrots work well), chopped
1/2 jalapeño or serrano pepper, finely chopped (or use black pepper or cayenne, to taste)
1/3 cup chopped spinach or greens, plus more for garnish
1 tsp nutritional yeast

• Whisk the flaxmeal and 1/4 cupful of the water in a bowl and set aside for 5 minutes.
• Add the oat flour, salt, black salt, garlic powder, turmeric and remaining water and mix well.
• In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder and chickpea flour and mix well. Add the flaxmeal mixture and whisk for half a minute.
• Add the mixed vegetables, jalapeño, spinach and nutritional yeast and fold in well.
• Grease a non-stick pan and heat to medium.
• Drop the batter on the hot pan and tap once or twice to spread. Cover with a lid and cook for 6 to 7 minutes.
• Remove the lid, add a few drops of oil on the edges and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes.
• Flip and cook for 5 to 6 more minutes.
• Add more greens and the non-dairy cheese, fold and remove from heat.

Serve with ketchup, toast and hash browns.

Makes one large or two small omelettes

This recipe comes from Sharan-India.org.

Tofu Scramble

3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup minced onion
3 Tbsp diced red bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
300 g firm tofu, drained and crumbled
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

• Sauté the garlic, onions and bell peppers on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir.
• Add the crumbled tofu, turmeric, salt and pepper and stir well. Garnish with the parsley.

Makes 4 servings
This recipe comes from HomeCookingAdventure.com.

Baked Potato Wedges

4 medium potatoes, washed and cut into wedges
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp chilli powder (optional)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 Tbsp oil
Green onions, chopped (for garnish)

• Preheat the oven to 220°C.
• Place the potato wedges in a large bowl. Add the paprika, chilli powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and oil and toss gently to coat.
• Lay the wedges in a single layer on a greased baking tray.
• Bake until golden brown and crispy on the outside, about 25 to 30 minutes.

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Makes 4 servings

You'll find more great vegan recipes here and here. And to give animals plenty of reasons to celebrate in 2013, get your free vegetarian/vegan starter kit from PETA India by writing to JalajK@petaindia.org along with your address and contact details.

The year 2012 was filled with so many victories and achievements for animals, it's not possible to list them all in one blog. Here are just a few of the highlights:

• Using footage shot by undercover investigators, PETA India released "Glass Walls", the first-ever exposé showing the routine cruelty of the Indian meat, egg and dairy industries. R Madhavan narrated the powerful video, which got its name from legendary animal advocate Paul McCartney's famous quote, "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian".
• An animal supplier in China duped Cathay Pacific Airways into transporting 70 beagles to India for use in experiments by a pharmaceutical company in Bangalore, against the airline's policy of not flying animals to laboratories. But PETA India, other rescue groups and MP Maneka Gandhi were wise to the ruse, and when we told you about it, 50,000 of you demanded that the dogs be released from the laboratory. Authorities listened to your pleas, and the beagles were rescued and placed up for adoption.

• Jet Airways, India's second largest airline, joined Cathay Pacific and numerous other major airlines in agreeing never to transport animals for use in experiments.
• PETA India snagged the Lush cosmetics company's first-ever global Lush Prize for our lobbying efforts to end cosmetics testing on animals. We worked to have the Bureau of Indian Standards accept non-animal testing methods and continued to push the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to ban animal tests for cosmetics.
• After years of pressure, the Election Commission of India issued a statement advising all political parties and candidates to refrain from using animals in campaigns. Animals used in campaigns are often overloaded, beaten and shoved into terrifying crowds.
• Millions of children will learn how to respect animals and peacefully coexist with them now that the Central Board of Secondary Education endorsed our humane education programme, Compassionate Citizen, on its official website. The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) also agreed to endorse and promote Compassionate Citizen.
• PETA also worked with AWBI to successfully encourage the government agency to classify the common crushing method of castrating bulls as a violation of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. The AWBI states that all bulls must now be castrated under anaesthesia by a veterinarian.
• Shoppers will have an easy time finding vegan restaurants, grocery stores, clothing and personal-care products, thanks to PETA India's new list of companies that don't test on animals, our easy-to-identify "PETA-Approved" logo and our vegan logo for restaurants.
• The Central Warehousing Corporation saved countless animal lives when it agreed to stop poisoning and suffocating rats in order to test its airplane-cabin fumigation process. The company now uses non-animal methods.
• PETA India's young division, PETA Youth, reached thousands more socially conscious young people with information about cruelty to animals and animal rights by partnering with Submerge, Sunburn, Nokia Indiafest and more than 130 college events.
• The sight of bullocks being forced to toil under heavy yokes in the hot sun while hauling sugarcane may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a groundbreaking new initiative from PETA India's friends at Animal Rahat. The organisation is successfully persuading sugarcane factories to switch to tractors, saving hundreds of bulls from suffering.
• After a five-year campaign by PETA India, the Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies' Controller of Rationing ordered oil companies to replace bullock carts with auto rickshaws, saving bullocks from having to pull carts loaded with kerosene on the congested streets of Mumbai.
• Even more bulls were spared when PETA and Animal Rahat worked with authorities to stop plans for a series of illegal bullfights and bull races.
• To help schools that offer medical courses adopt new non-animal training methods, we sponsored a series of free workshops that introduced instructors to modern, superior educational tools, such as human-patient simulators and interactive computer-aided teaching models.
• Animal advocacy became the hot new style when PETA India teamed up with the Fashion Design Council of India for a "Fashion for Freedom – Boycott Zoos" event during Fashion Week. The star-studded event reached thousands of people with the message that exotic animals belong in the wild – not in cages.

Thank you for everything you did for animals in 2012. We look forward to sharing many more victories with you in 2013.

New Year's Eve is all about having fun, which is why PETA has come up with three fun, easy recipes that will wow your party guests. And if some of your guests aren't already vegan, what better way to win them over than with food that will have them begging for seconds?

Muhammara and Garlic-Olive Breadsticks

3 red bell peppers

1 cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 Tbsp water

1/2 cup walnuts

2 dried red chillies

Salt, to taste

5 slices vegan bread (preferably thick slices)

1/2 cup olives

2 tsp garlic powder

• Preheat the oven to 175°C. Roast the bell peppers for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool, then peel and remove the seeds. Cut into small pieces.
• Heat 1/2 cupful of the olive oil in a pan and sauté the garlic and onions until lightly browned.
• In a food processor, blend the bread crumbs with the water. Add the walnuts, red chillies, bell peppers and the sautéed onions and garlic (with the olive oil) and blend into a smooth paste. Season with salt.
• Cut the bread slices into long sticks.
• Mix the olives with the garlic powder and the remaining olive oil. Season with salt. Spread evenly and liberally on top of the bread slices, then toast in the oven until crisp.

Makes 4 servings

Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower 'Wings'

1 cup water or soya milk
1 cup flour (any kind will work – even gluten-free!)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 head cauliflower, chopped into pieces
1 cup hot sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil or melted vegan margarine

• Preheat the oven to 232.2°C.
• Combine the water or soya milk, flour and garlic powder in a bowl and stir until well combined.
• Coat the cauliflower pieces with the flour mixture and place in a shallow baking dish. Bake for 18 minutes.
• While the cauliflower is baking, combine the hot sauce and olive oil or margarine in a small bowl.
• Pour the hot sauce mixture over the baked cauliflower and continue baking for an additional 5 to 8 minutes.

Serve alongside vegan blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.

Makes 4 servings

Baked Tomato, Garlic and Basil Bruschetta Bites

15 sugar plum tomatoes, diced
12 basil leaves, cut into ribbons
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 loaf French baguette, thinly sliced

• Preheat the oven to 177ºC.
• In a bowl, combine all the ingredients except the bread and mix well. Place the bread on a baking sheet and spoon a little tomato mixture onto each slice.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges of the bread are slightly golden and the topping is warm.

Makes 4 servings

Now you can just sit back and enjoy the compliments into the wee hours of the morning. From all of us at PETA, Happy New Year – and bon appétit!

Immensely popular actor R Madhavan is receiving a prestigious award, but this time, it isn't related to his prolific and enduring film career. That's because he's been named PETA's Person of the Year for his outstanding support of PETA in helping us make this world a better place for animals.

Madhavan – a long-time vegetarian, the narrator of the compelling "Glass Walls" video and, of course, an immensely popular actor – actively promotes vegetarianism as the best way to help stop animal suffering, reduce pollution, fight climate change and improve human health.

The star of such blockbusters as Rang De Basanti, Guru and 3 Idiots bolstered PETA's Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign by sending a letter on PETA's behalf to the CEO of KFC parent company, Yum! Brands, urging him to adopt PETA's recommendations to stop the worst abuses of chickens who are killed for KFC – including scalding birds to death. Also, his son recently donated money that he received for his seventh birthday to further PETA's work. One of Madhavan's most significant contributions to PETA was his offer to narrate PETA's hard-hitting video exposé of the meat industry called "Glass Walls", which was named for fellow vegetarian Paul McCartney's thought-provoking observation that if "slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian".

"When you see what goes on inside slaughterhouses, I think you'll lose your appetite for animal flesh, too", Madhavan says in the video. "Animals feel pain, just as people do. They value their lives, just as we value ours." He concludes by saying, "I hope you'll also make the compassionate choice and go vegetarian".

If you agree, please take the pledge to go vegetarian with R Madhavan today!

It's time to rejoice!

In a landmark move, 70 beagles who were imported from China by Advinus Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical laboratory in Bangalore, have been released to People For Animals and Blue Cross Chennai following a rigorous campaign for their release by PETA India and these groups. The dogs have been removed from quarantine and handed over to animal protection groups with the permission of the Ministry of Environment & Forests and through efforts made internally in government by MP Maneka Gandhi.

The rescue was approved after PETA notified the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experimentation on Animals that it was falsely stated on an Animal Quarantine & Certification Service document that the dogs were "pets", rather than for experiments. PETA also learned that Cathay Pacific Airways, which has a strict policy against transporting animals to laboratories, was misinformed by the supplier, Beijing Marshall Biotechnology Co., Ltd., that the dogs would not be used or killed in a laboratory.

More than fifty thousand people from around the world sent e-mails to authorities calling for the dogs' release. Actor Trisha Krishnan also sent a heartfelt letter to the government calling for the dogs’ release. Many other celebrities helped by tweeting about the campaign and encouraging their fans to write.

"Recently, the Minister of Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan flew to Chennai to personally inspect the 70 beagles. PETA commends and thanks Minister Natarajan for giving the serious attention to this case that it deserves", says PETA's Science Policy Advisor, Dr Chaitanya Kumar. "PETA India invites people who are ready to make the lifelong commitment to caring for a dog to adopt these puppies and give them the loving home that they were almost denied."

Experimenters use beagles because of their friendly and docile nature. Beagles in laboratories spend their lonely lives in cages and are often poisoned with drugs, burned with chemicals or cut open in experimental surgical procedures. At the end of most of these experiments, they are killed and dissected.

Anyone in the Chennai area interested in adopting one of the rescued dogs is invited to contact People For Animals (pfachen@gmail.com) or Blue Cross Chennai (bluecrossofindia@gmail.com).