Ms. Anuradha Sawhney, Chief Functionary (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) PETA.

What is Peta's mission ?

PETA is the largest animal rights organisation in the world. PETA India operates under the simple principle that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on or use for entertainment, by educating policymakers and the public about animal abuse and promoting an understanding of the right of all animals to be treated with respect. We are here to stand up for the rights of all animals. If PETA had their way the whole world would be vegetarian and would not use leather. Since it is not so, PETA is here to keep a check that animals that are being used in these industries are treated justly and have a proper life and a humane death.

Why PETA is not offering comprehensive services in the field of animal welfare ?

We are at present concentrating on the four areas where animals are used or are ill-treated the most. These are the food, clothing, experimentation and the entertainment industry. We are working to ensure that the animal protection laws that are already in place in these four industries in India are enforced. Once that is done, we would then go out and help in the other areas.

Why PETA does not believe in keeping animals in zoo ?

Zoos are only for human entertainment, they in no way help animals. Although zoos claim to educate people and preserve species, they frequently fall short on both counts. Most zoo enclosures are quite small, and labels provide little more information than the species' name, diet and natural range. The animals' normal behaviour is seldom discussed, much less observed, because their natural needs are seldom met. Animals in zoo are a parody of their real self.

How can you pick up an animal, remove him from all that is natural to them, place them in an alien environment and then come and gawk at them ? So educational purpose is lost here. The concept of zoos does not lead to anything.

If conservation is the intention, why not conserve the habitat of animals instead of picking them up and putting them in enclosed places which in no way resemble their natural habitat ? Example of the imprisonment of the leopards in Borivali National Park. Why were builders allowed to encroach into the core area of the park ? Why are the forest officers more vigilant in enforcing that the slum dwellers stay out? Nowhere in the world has this ever happened, that the buffer zone of the forest has been allowed to be encroached upon. The fault was not of the animals; in fact these animals were introduced in to Borivali National Park by the humans. Yet because of this apathetic attitude of the authorities in charge, a leopard mother lost 3 babies in transit and an adult dies as well ? The reason - they were placed in fully enclosed tin cages with just one small one foot by one foot opening for air. In each of these hell holes, 2 adult animals were placed! No veterinary doctor was sent long with them on the trip. The provisions on transportation of animals under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960 was entirely violated by the very government who should be enforcing it! Condition of animals in cages is pathetic. In no way can animals in captivity benefit anyone except humans.

People say that there are many human beings who are getting unethical treatment and that is the priority. How are you going to sensitise these people on ethical treatment towards animals ?

I believe that every human is compassionate. You just have to awaken the compassion in him. I work with every kind of person whether cruel or sensitive. Majority of cruelty is found in the highest strata of society. We have a humane education programme called Compassionate Citizen for school children. We distribute this kit free to schools across India free of cost. Our mission is to give it to all the schools in India. We also have awareness literature for everyone. We work with the laws of the country to ensure their enforcement. India has one of the best animal protection laws in the world. But the problem is they are rarely enforcement.

Is PETA largely an urban movement or is it spread all over ?

It is spread all over India. We have only one office but we work with activists and organisations all across India. We have people in every part of India, with their help and our help we are able to help animals.

How is PETA taking the help of corporates to serve the cause ?

So far we haven't taken corporate help. But at some point of time we would like to get involved because we feel that corporates owe a lot to society. Corporates can help us with funds. They can help us with various services like printing. We need to print substantial material as we are into awareness. We are looking for office space; this current space is smaller as we want to expand. People can help us with a used vehicle for transporting animals.

How can corporates volunteer with PETA financially and non financially ?

Financial help would be good. Non financially also they can help us in many ways by turning all canteens vegetarian, not wearing leather.

We need people in the zoo, as there is lack of security staff to enforce correct visitor behaviour in the zoo. They can take out time on weekends. They can patrol cages and see that people do not harass animals. People coming to the zoo feed monkeys lit cigarettes, gutkha etc. Awareness in visitors is required to be developed.

How is PETA sensitising corporates ?

At present we are not doing anything in this area but we would like to. We have very limited staff. We want funding to grow for more such programmes.

How is PETA sensitizing corporates on the issue of use of animals in advertising ?

We have recently served a legal notice on O&M and Hutches & Telecom. They used a parrot in their latest advertisement with Rahul Dravid. There are certain laws that address the use of animals in films and advertisements. We want those laws to be followed. In last October-December PETA sent over 2500 letters to every ad agency, event management company and many more who could conceivably use animals, telling them about the cruelty involved in using animals for films or advertisements. There are laws that govern the use of these animals. We also mentioned the Wildlife Protection act under which certain animals are protected and therefore these animals can never be used. After sending those letters, in the month of May we had written to O&M about the donkey that they used in the Sprite ad without the requisite permissions. They withdrew the advertisement on our intervention and yet they went ahead and used a parrot for another ad! So we served the legal notice this time. People should not disregard laws. Even if a person does not feel for animals, there are laws that need to be followed. The success is that these ads are no longer shown on TV.

How is PETA sensitising corporates on the issue of use of animals in clinical research ?

Two years back, I had personally gone to a research centre in Pune set up by the Indian Government alongwith other inspectors. I had filmed the conditions in which animals were kept.

They had monkeys who had been forgotten about. These monkeys were kept in tiny cages, in 3 rooms where there were no fans, lights, and where the food given was rotten. Many of the monkeys did not have fingers and had to drink water with their hands as the sipper was not provided in the cages, but they could not cup the water as they had no fingers!

Our concern was that the institute was conducting an investigation on AIDS. How could they distinguish that the monkeys were sick due to improper care or from what they had injected in the animals. As a result of our report, the government ordered the confiscation of these animals. 37 monkeys and 2 goats were released as a result of our intervention. PETA's stand is that animals should not be used for anything, in case if they are to be used, they should be used keeping in mind the welfare of the animals. It is very important that when you take an animal away from his natural environment and put them in a stressful environment, the least one can do is to ensure that he has proper food, water, and area around him.

Do you get any personal threats ?

We get some occasionally.

How is it done globally and in India ?

PETA works all across. In fact on our website, work that we do internationally is mentioned. We are working with circuses, Zoos etc. We managed to get a zoo to retire 4 elephants in the US to a sanctuary.

How can people volunteer with PETA ?

They can call up 022-26281800. They can also fill up an activist form on our website. They can give their time. We need volunteers desperately.

What is the size of the illegal trade in animal skin and other
products ?

I won't be able to give you figures. Four years back there were over 36,000 illegal slaughterhouses across India. Legal slaughterhouses are just a few across India. In Bombay, the only legal slaughterhouse is in Deonar. But one can see slaughterhouses in every nook and corner. The local police and local municipality do not take any action. That is the kind of apathy that we have to battle at all times.

Do you sell alternative products ?

Interested people can go to any shop and ask for non-leather stuff. All shoe shops have non-leather options but the staff is not trained to differentiate. So we have written letters across India to show manufacturers to inform their staff about the products and label them as leather and non-leather. I buy everything from linking road. It is very cheap and durable

Are you doing anything on the advocacy front ?

We work to enforce the law. We pursue matters up to the ministerial level and beyond to the PM level as well as the President. We tell them where the laws are not being followed and ask for their help in getting them enforced. For eg, the ministry must make sure that the censor board has control over the advertisements, just like they have control over the films. We also have a case in the Supreme Court against all the slaughterhouses in every state in India.

Budget 2004-05 is promoting meat export.
Are you taking any action in this direction ?

We are in the process of writing letters to the minister for animal welfare, Mr. A.K. Raje and also to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi to tell them that with such a policy more animals are going to be ill treated and more rules will be broken. Please ensure that the laws are enforced urgently.

What kind of role Indianngos.com can play in supporting your cause ?

IndianNGOs.com can put up our releases on their site. They can start a forum where people can discuss ideas. We would love corporates to get involved. Young people who are now joining corporates have a thinking mind. We would want them to realise the cruelty around and then make an informed decision on their life style.