• PETA’s Jason Baker, the CLE and members of the Orissa animal protection community met with Orissa state animal husbandry and transport officials. These officials pledged to take steps to stop gross overcrowding of animals; yet, absolutely no improvements were made. It was alleged that the Orissa Motor Vehicles Department accepts bribes from unscrupulous transporters.

• PETA’s Jason Baker attended a meeting of the Cattle Commission and discussed ways in which the
transport of animals could be improved; yet, PETA received no word from the Cattle Commission on progress.

• The guru of action films, Steven Seagal, fired off a letter to all members of the Indian parliament
(Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha), urging them to support the passage of amendments strengthening the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960. Several members of Parliament, including Sonia Gandhi’s office, replied to Mr Seagal, acknowledging his position or assuring him that they would support the amendments.
• Miriam Parker, an expert in animal-handling, transport and more humane methods of slaughter,
travelled from the UK to India at PETA’s expense and spoke to government officials and sometimes transporters and butchers in Maharashtra, Orissa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Ms Parker expressed dismay that no improvements had been made since her last visit to the Mumbai, Kolkatta and Bangalore abattoirs in July 2000. Most of Ms Parker’s reasonable recommendations were, once again, ignored.

• Retail giants Eddie Bauer, Timberland, Travel 2000, Casual Corner and other major companies told
PETA that they would not purchase leather from India until the government took steps to enforce basic animal protection laws.

• PETA warned that it would take legal action against the CLE for lying to the media that PETA had
been banned from Malaysia and Pakistan. The CLE continued to make excuses denying responsibility for the treatment of the animals whose outsides it makes into shoes and bags and continued to subsidise criminal transport and slaughter conditions, including illegal and unlicensed abattoirs.

• A “cow” visited the Global Leather fair in Las Vegas and the North American Shoe and Accessory
Market in Atlanta with PETA representatives, urging participants not to use leather obtained from tortured Indian animals at least until animal protection laws are enforced.

Late 1998-1999

2000
January-February
March-April
May-June
July-August
September-October
November-December


2001
January-February
March-April
May-June
July-August
September-October
November-December