• On 5th May, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk sent a fiery letter to Mohamad Hashim, chair of the CLE, regarding claims made by the CLE to its clients, the media and consumers regarding PETA, the source of Indian leather, its effect on animals and the hideous toll it takes on the environment. PETA challenged the CLE to take real steps to improve the lives of animals whose horrific treatment and slaughter it profits from. Newkirk informed the CLE that it was courting a consumer fraud lawsuit and a defamation action if it continued to misrepresent the facts.
• International retailers Liz Claiborne, J. Crew, Nordstrom, Florsheim, Fiorucci and Clarks agreed to stop using leather from India and China until the animals killed for leather were treated legally and humanely. Boycotts from PETA’s efforts now totalled an estimated 1.26 billion rupees in losses.
• PETA President Ingrid Newkirk, along with a delegation of international experts, met with the then minister of agriculture, Sunderlal Patwa. Minister Patwa gave scant attention to the issue, affording the delegation only a few minutes of his time. The delegation also met with Harishwar Patil, mayor of Mumbai, and his staff regarding the deplorable condition of the notorious Deonar slaughterhouse. Mayor Patil agreed that the conditions were horrific and pledged to take steps to improve the matter. But no actual improvement was made.
• PETA’s research manager, Poorva Joshipura, met with the governors of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka, all of whom agreed that the treatment of animals transported to slaughter is cruel and illegal and claimed that they would take steps to improve the situation. Although the Tamil Nadu governor was unreceptive, she arranged a meeting for Joshipura with the minister and director of animal husbandry for Tamil Nadu. This ministry admitted that laws were not being enforced with regard to animal transport to slaughter and agreed that action needed to be taken. PETA representative Aaron Gross visited Bangalore’s municipal slaughterhouse and learned that the animals there were being butchered in front of each other on gut- and intestine-covered floors with knives so dull that it often took more than five minutes for the animals to even lose consciousness. Animals were seen struggling for life, even attempting to stand up, minutes after their throats had been slit. Bangalore officials vowed to improve conditions, but no actual improvements were made.
International stars joined efforts to improve the lives of cattle illegally transported to slaughter by participating with Ingrid Newkirk in a fast to bring attention to the plight of the cattle. The stars included Steven Seagal, Brigitte Bardot and German singer Nina Hagen. The fast began with a flower-offering ceremony at the Gandhi statue in Delhi.
• Religious leaders the Dalai Lama and Swami Satchidananda learned from PETA of the cruelty that Indian cattle face, and both appealed to Prime Minister Vajpayee. Swami Satchidananda wrote, ‘These helpless creatures, God’s creatures—who in our land are considered sacred—are subjected to unspeakable abuses and horror. ... It is a shame on us to allow these abuses to continue.’
• On 30th May, PETA and 37 European and North American animal protection organisations agreed to a 60-day moratorium on any efforts to pressure overseas customers of Indian leather from buying such goods, in light of assurances by the chair of the CLE, Mohamed Hashim, that the CLE’s member groups would take action against cattle cruelty. Among other considerations, the CLE agreed to halt all purchases of hides originating at Deonar in Mumbai, one of India’s most notorious slaughterhouses, where PETA’s video documentation of injured cattle left baking to death in the hot sun had stirred protests worldwide. The CLE had also agreed to add its voice to that of others asking the Indian government to take action to enforce existing cattle transport laws, and the CLE agreed to hold meetings with state government officials.
• On 31st May, months after the start of PETA’s campaign and repeated pleas to the government, Prime Minister Vajpayee sent a communication to the chief ministers of all states stating that the laws as per the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act need to be rigorously enforced. He wrote, ‘Steps need to be initiated to enforce the existing law, and associate nongovernmental organisations, to achieve the objective of a more humane treatment of animals.’ He further commented, ‘Our inability to protect our animals against the greed of unscrupulous traders in their mindless pursuit of wealth has led to this situation.’ He asked states’ officials to initiate steps to establish effective societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCA’s).
• In June, the CLE sent a plea to the minister of railways asking that railway officials be instructed to ensure that the regulations as found in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act are adhered to with regard to cattle being transported to slaughter by rail. Although it is this ministry’s duty to ensure compliance with all laws regarding rail transport, the ministry refused to help. Reports indicate cattle are transported by the thousands by rail under bone-crushing conditions. Cattle often arrive at their destinations unable to walk and suffering from internal and external injuries.
• In early June 2000, after receiving numerous letters from PETA and people all over the world and after suffering significant losses to the leather industry, Minister Murasoli Maran of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry urged state governments to set up high-powered committees to oversee the enforcement of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. However, months later, only a minuscule number of animal welfare organisations had been contacted to participate in any state committee. Nongovernmental organisations all over India wrote to PETA, stating that state-level committees in their regions remained non-existent or highly ineffective.
• Following Prime Minister Vajpayee’s assurances that India’s anti-cruelty laws applicable to the practices of cattle transport and slaughter would be enforced and the CLE’s assurances that concerted efforts to improve the enforcement of laws would be made, PETA emerged from a conference with animal protection representatives from Europe and North America to declare a new good-faith moratorium on protests against Indian embassies for 60 days. During this ‘wait and see’ period, PETA announced its campaign would shift its focus to countries importing unclean and cruelly produced meat from India. PETA member Dr Hanif Akhtar publicly stated that ‘Islam has many hadith promoting the humane treatment of animals. This treatment of cattle in India is against Islam and is not in any way halal.’ PETA’s president, Ingrid Newkirk, began meeting in Washington, DC, with diplomatic envoys from countries that import Indian meat, and PETA representatives in Europe and Australia made similar visits to envoys in those countries. Ingrid Newkirk also traveled to Malaysia, the number one importer of Indian meat, to show evidence of abuse to relevant officials. PETA Research Manager Poorva Joshipura held a meeting with the Malaysian high commissioner and UAE consulate general in India. Meetings with similar officials had been held in Germany, Great Britain, the US and elsewhere. Additional information was posted on www.IslamicConcern.com.
The chief secretary of Tamil Nadu chaired a high-level meeting of government officials to discuss the enforcement of animal protection laws; however, actual enforcement remains minimal, rare and insufficient.
Late 1998-1999
2000
January-February
March-April
May-June
July-August
September-October
November-December
2001
January-February
March-April
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November-December
