“I’m ME, Not Mutton!” Proclaims Goat on PETA India Billboard Amid ‘Malhar Certification’ Controversy 

For Immediate Release:

20 March 2025

Contact: 

Hiraj Laljani; [email protected]  

Sanskriti Bansore; [email protected] 

Pune – As ‘Malhar certification’ for meat from Hindu butchers sparks debate, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has launched a thought-provoking campaign in Pune to remind the public whether killed in the Hindu, Muslim or any other manner, goats are thinking, feeling individuals who do not want to die. A striking new billboard features a goat proclaiming, “I’m ME, Not Mutton. See the Individual. Go Vegan”, urging people to reject all forms of animal slaughter and embrace a cruelty-free vegan lifestyle.  

The billboard is located Near Fergusson College, FC Road, Next to Pantaloons, Shivajinagar, Pune. 

“No animal wants to die, whether by jhatka, halal or any other method. All living beings feel pain and fear, have unique personalities, and value their own lives, just as we do,” says PETA India Manager of Vegan and Corporate Projects, Dr Kiran Ahuja, “Ahimsa—nonviolence—is a tenet of Hinduism. The best way to honour this value is by choosing vegan meals that spare animals’ lives.” 

In today’s meat, egg, and dairy industries, huge numbers of animals are raised in vast warehouses in severe confinement. Goats and chickens have their throats slit while fully conscious, cows and buffaloes are separated from their calves, pigs are stabbed in the heart, and fish are suffocated and cut open while still alive. Male chicks are commonly burned, drowned, crushed, fed live to fish, or killed in other cruel ways along with other unwanted chicks because they cannot lay eggs, similarly, male calves as they cannot produce milk are separated from their mothers shortly after birth and are starved, abandoned or slaughtered for beef and leather. Many animals suffocate during overcrowded transport before those who survive are slaughtered in full view of one another. 

PETA India points out goats are intelligent, playful and curious animals. They live in complex social groups, are good at figuring out puzzles including opening gates, and they have excellent memories. 

PETA India—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow PETA India on X, Facebook, or Instagram. 

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