• In March, PETA again worked to contact government officials. This time, letters were sent to the prime minister, minister of agriculture, minister of transport, minister of railways, minister of commerce, minister of tourism and other concerned officials, along with copies of newspaper articles regarding the criminal abuse inflicted upon Indian cattle killed for meat and leather. PETA was aware that the Council for Leather Exports (CLE) worked under the government of the Ministry of Commerce.

• Arun Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, sent a letter to Prime Minister Vajpayee, expressing ‘much anguish’ over India’s failure to enforce existing laws that would protect its cows from the current atrocities.

• Animal lover and legend Sir Paul McCartney of the Beatles learned of the campaign and contacted PETA, wanting to help. He soon sent a letter to Prime Minister Vajpayee, stating that he was ‘deeply upset’ by the cruelty and reminded Vajpayee of Mahatma Gandhi’s famous words, ‘The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.’

• In April, PETA sent several letters to the prime minister requesting a meeting. Letters were also sent to the home minister, several state officials and again to the minister of agriculture, minister of transport, minister of commerce and other officials. Again, PETA’s pleas and the pleas of the world were ignored.

• PETA launched a series of demonstrations worldwide, including one at the Indian Embassy in the US, in which a fake cow was ‘slaughtered’ on the Embassy’s doorstep in an effort to demonstrate the actual Indian cows’ fate. Demonstrations were also held in Delhi, Bangalore, Calcutta and other Indian cities.

• In mid-April, major US retailers Gap Inc., Old Navy and Banana Republic announced that they had put an end to the use of leather from India until India’s animal protection laws are strictly enforced. At PETA’s request, the companies also stopped using leather from China, where dogs and cats are slaughtered for their skins.

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