Bald Eagle
02-05-2002, 12:17 PM
February 5, 2002 9:38 am EST
MADRAS, India (Reuters) - A popular Indian film actor crammed himself into a tiny cage Monday and gripped its wire mesh as he appealed for compassion for chickens as part of a campaign by an international animal rights group.
R. Madhavan, a South Indian movie actor, told reporters that he was posing for the campaign, "Compassion, Not Cages -- Go Veg!" out of personal faith as a vegetarian.
The event was organized by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
"It's simple, I love animals so I don't eat them," he said. "We've all seen chickens crammed in cages at butcher shops but nobody stops to think about the trauma they go through, never getting to run...they still feel pain just like you and me."
The drive by U.S.-based PETA is the latest animal rights campaign it has run in India. Last year, it demanded a boycott of Indian leather to press for more humane slaughter of cows.
Cows are sacred in mainly Hindu India and the slaughter of cattle is allowed in only two states, West Bengal and Kerala. But activists say in those states cows face cruel conditions.
Last month, the U.S. Agriculture Department, in a major victory for animal rights groups, said it would propose stricter meat industry guidelines to ensure the humane treatment of animals destined for human consumption.
PETA said its new Indian campaign was meant to raise public awareness in India about the plight of animals such as chickens.
"Chickens raised for food today are intensively confined on factory farms, where they endure painful debeaking and declawing without anesthesia. Finally, they are crammed onto lorries for a nightmarish ride to the butcher, without food or water," it said.
PETA said while several western governments had begun to slap harsh limitations on "factory farms," the Indian government too needed to act quickly to regulate the mushrooming industry.
It has used several vegetarian celebrities including former Beatle Paul McCartney, singer Bryan Adams and Indian Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan to speak against 'cruelty for meat.'
MADRAS, India (Reuters) - A popular Indian film actor crammed himself into a tiny cage Monday and gripped its wire mesh as he appealed for compassion for chickens as part of a campaign by an international animal rights group.
R. Madhavan, a South Indian movie actor, told reporters that he was posing for the campaign, "Compassion, Not Cages -- Go Veg!" out of personal faith as a vegetarian.
The event was organized by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
"It's simple, I love animals so I don't eat them," he said. "We've all seen chickens crammed in cages at butcher shops but nobody stops to think about the trauma they go through, never getting to run...they still feel pain just like you and me."
The drive by U.S.-based PETA is the latest animal rights campaign it has run in India. Last year, it demanded a boycott of Indian leather to press for more humane slaughter of cows.
Cows are sacred in mainly Hindu India and the slaughter of cattle is allowed in only two states, West Bengal and Kerala. But activists say in those states cows face cruel conditions.
Last month, the U.S. Agriculture Department, in a major victory for animal rights groups, said it would propose stricter meat industry guidelines to ensure the humane treatment of animals destined for human consumption.
PETA said its new Indian campaign was meant to raise public awareness in India about the plight of animals such as chickens.
"Chickens raised for food today are intensively confined on factory farms, where they endure painful debeaking and declawing without anesthesia. Finally, they are crammed onto lorries for a nightmarish ride to the butcher, without food or water," it said.
PETA said while several western governments had begun to slap harsh limitations on "factory farms," the Indian government too needed to act quickly to regulate the mushrooming industry.
It has used several vegetarian celebrities including former Beatle Paul McCartney, singer Bryan Adams and Indian Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan to speak against 'cruelty for meat.'