‘Will Galgotias University Donate RoboDog, Orion, To Help Replace Animals In Circuses?’ Asks PETA India
For Immediate Release:
28 February 2026
Contact:
Sanskriti Bansore; [email protected]
Varulika Dixit; [email protected]
New Delhi — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA India) has approached Galgotias University to donate the controversial robot-dog ‘Orion’, which was recently displayed at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, to help replace and rehabilitate real dogs used by circuses.
In a letter to the Chancellor of Galgotias University Shri Suneel Galgotia, PETA India’s Vice President of Policy, Khushboo Gupta, asks, “PETA India requests that Galgotias University consider donating Orion to a circus via PETA India so that it may be used to replace real dogs used in shows who we can then rehome to loving families or in a sanctuary. Through this donation, the University can help spotlight how technology can be used to stop the suffering of animals…The donation of Orion would show that Galgotias University is committed to animal welfare and using technology for good. Your students could even play a direct role by training circus performers to use the technology and by supporting their smooth transition to humane, tech-driven alternatives.”
Numerous species such as dogs, horses, camels, goats and birds continue to suffer and are forced to perform confusing tricks, live a stressful life of violence and other cruelty in circuses such as constant travel and being caged or chained when not in use. Decades of documentation shows animals used in circuses are jabbed with weapons; whipped and kept in small, filthy cages or tied or chained for long hours. Meanwhile birds’ wings are mutilated to prevent them from flying away. Animals in circuses endure chronic stress, exhaustion, injuries, and psychological trauma as a direct result of these abusive conditions.
“As our country advances towards its vision of becoming a global technology leader, there is an opportunity to use technology to uplift animals’ lives while securing livelihoods,” says PETA India’s Vice-President of Policy Khushboo Gupta. She added, “Circuses such as Rambo and Gemini have already introduced mechanical animals to attract patrons. A robotic dog could further help circuses recognise the benefits of replacing live animals with advanced technology.”
Public sentiment strongly supports ending animal use in circuses. More than 193,930 individuals, including school children, celebrities, and over 100 veterinarians, have appealed for an end to the use of animals in circuses. Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, Guatemala and Honduras already prohibit the use of animals in circuses and Italy is working toward implementing a similar policy.
Two regulatory bodies, the Animal Welfare Board of India and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), have recognized that animal circuses are inherently cruel and that the use of animals in circuses in India should be prohibited. PETA India has filed a petition in the High Court of Delhi seeking a ban on the use of animals in circuses through the central government’s notification of the draft Performing Animals (Registration) (Amendment) Rules, 2018.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information about PETA India , please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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