Pepsi Funds Bull Abuse in Sugar Industry—PETA India’s New Sky-High Message Calls for Action
“Stop cruelty to animals for sugar”—that’s the new message from PETA India on billboards outside PepsiCo’s India headquarters in Gurgaon and near PepsiCo’s Global Business Services (GBS) office in Hyderabad, as the soft drink giant violates its own animal welfare policy by sourcing sugar via partners and suppliers from farms where exhausted bulls are beaten, whipped, and forced to haul heavy loads of sugarcane.
The company’s Indian bottling partner obtains sugar from regions where bulls are beaten with sticks and whips as they struggle to carry carts illegally overloaded with as much as four tonnes of sugarcane. Not only does such gruelling labour cause painful abscesses and muscle tears, but many animals suffer bloody wounds from the barbed-wire spikes that tear into their faces if they “disobey” by turning their heads.
The bull to the left cannot lower his head due to how tightly the rope piercing his nostrils is tied to the yoke. Credit: Animal Rahat
In the United States, PETA has taken aggressive action against PepsiCo over the same issue. In February 2026, after PETA Foundation attorneys filed a lawsuit, PepsiCo was forced to allow shareholders to vote on a resolution about animal abuse in its supply chain. In May, five protesters dressed as bulls cemented their feet at PepsiCo’s New York headquarters during the company’s annual shareholder meeting and were arrested. PETA secured enough shareholder votes to bring the resolution back next year.
The billboard is located on the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR Road), Near Vatika Chowk, Opp. Tata Primanti, Sector 69, Gurgaon, 122004.
The billboard is located at Outer Ring Road (ORR) Exit, Near PepsiCo Global Business Services, Traffic from Kokapet, Hyderabad, 500075
Animal Rahat, an Indian based animal protection charity, has worked since 2011 to replace bullock-driven carts with more efficient and cost-effective mechanised alternatives through its Sugarcane Industry Mechanisation Project. Through the project’s influence, one-third of Maharashtra’s sugar production has been mechanised. A single tractor is capable of transporting up to 18 tonnes of sugar per trip, providing owners with improved income opportunities.
Bulls are highly social animals who, given the chance, form long-lasting, cooperative relationships with their fellow herd members. PETA India encourages everyone to help spare bulls a lifetime of suffering and abuse on sugarcane farms by urging PepsiCo to require its partners and suppliers to switch to humane and modern eco-tractors and use its vast influence to help India’s sugar industry mechanise.
