Schoolchildren Wearing Dog and Cow Masks to Lead PETA India Protest of Supreme Court Community Animal Roundup Order on National Day of Action

For Immediate Release:

12 December 2025

Contact:

Utkarsh Garg; [email protected]

Anushka Yadav; [email protected]

Kolkata– In response to the Supreme Court’s recent directive ordering the rounding up of cows and buffaloes from highways and community dogs from colleges, bus stops, and more, young supporters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA India) from the Loreto House School will take a compassionate stand for their four-legged neighbours as part of a national day of action. Wearing community dog and cow masks, the students will join PETA India supporters wearing dog and cow costumes holding signs reading ‘Dogs and Cows are Kolkatans, Too’ and others encouraging kindness and urging the Supreme Court to reverse the directive. To demonstrate that community dogs are loved, cared for and belong in their neighbourhoods, the children will also distribute bright ‘Save Desi Dogs’ bandanas and lovingly tie them onto local dogs. Similar events are simultaneously being held by schoolchildren in Mumbai and Goa.

Where:           South Gate, Victoria Memorial, Opposite PG Hospital, 1, Queens        Way, Maidan, Kolkata, West Bengal 700071

When:             Tuesday, 2 December 2025, 12 noon sharp

‘These children understand something some adults do not – that dogs and cows are members of our communities who deserve kindness, not imprisonment,’ says PETA India’s Advocacy Associate Chumki Dutta. ‘Displacing and jailing up to millions of animals is impossible, unlawful, and cruel. The only solution that works to reduce the dog population – and is backed by science – is sterilisation, vaccination, and compassion. And since dairies often abandon male calves since they cannot produce milk and females once their milk production wanes on the roads, PETA India is also calling for the closure of illegal dairies as a minimum measure.’

Mrs Purbita Bagchi, Principal of Loreto House School adds, ‘We teach our students that kindness is strength. Today, they are standing in solidarity for their friends, the animals, with whom we share the planet.’

India has over 60 million dogs and cats living on the streets, 8.8 million already languishing in overcrowded shelters, and more than 5 million stray cattle, most abandoned by the dairy industry once they are no longer profitable. The idea of impounding these animals in non-existent shelters – or building boundary walls around bus depots and railway stations to keep dogs out – is not only unworkable but also illegal under the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, which prohibits the displacement of community dogs. Meanwhile, PETA India encourages a vegan lifestyle and the closure of illegal dairies as a minimum measure to address dairy cruelty.

PETA India also calls on state governments to shut down unregistered pet shops and breeders, who sell animals like commodities to buyers who often abandon them later, further swelling the number of animals in shelters. Instead, the group urges the public to adopt dogs and cats in need from shelters or the street, sterilise companion animals, and treat community animals with kindness.

PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that ‘animals are not ours to abuse in any way’ – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

#