PETA India Director Hangs Alongside Goat and Pig Carcasses in “We Are All Animals” Appeal
PETA India Director Poorva Joshipura delivered a powerful plea at Jantar Mantar on Thursday as she was hung from a hook, clad in a skin-coloured bodysuit smeared with “blood,” alongside the carcasses of a “pig” and “goat.” The striking visual marks PETA India’s 25 years of unwavering advocacy for animal liberation. It serves as a shocking reminder that no living being deserves to be killed and carved up to satisfy someone’s fleeting taste.
Pigs and goats are social, highly intelligent, emotionally complex animals with unique personalities—much like the dogs and cats we love. Pigs are known to dream, recognise their names and show empathy for other pigs who are happy or distressed. Goats are playful, good at figuring out puzzles and opening gates, and have excellent memories.
Yet in today’s meat, egg and dairy industry, huge numbers of animals are raised in vast warehouses in severe confinement: goat’s throats are slit while they are conscious, pigs are stabbed in the heart as they scream, chickens are killed in full view of their companions, fish are suffocated and are cut open while they’re still alive. Chickens used for eggs are confined to small cages that can’t spread a single wing. Cows and buffaloes are crammed into vehicles in such large numbers that their bones often break before they’re dragged off to a slaughterhouse. 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.
Each vegan person spares the lives of up to nearly 200 animals per year. In addition, people who eat vegan reduce their risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Raising animals for food is also a leading cause of water pollution and water and land use, and a United Nations report concluded that a global shift towards vegan eating is necessary to combat the worst effects of the climate catastrophe. PETA India offers a free vegan starter kit for those ready to switch.
Joshipura’s latest book, Survival at Stake: How Our Treatment of Animals Is Key to Human Existence, published by HarperCollins India, highlights the critical impact of our treatment of animals on human well-being. Experts warn that the use of animals for food could contribute to future epidemics. Her first book, For a Moment of Taste: How What You Eat Impacts Animals, the Planet, and Your Health, makes one thing clear: our choices at the dinner table have far-reaching consequences.
