For the love of animals
Poorva Joshipura
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) reputation as an organisation that fights against animal cruelty needs no introduction. The animal rights establishment, known for its noble causes, has been an influential platform for many animal lovers, including our very own Rtn. Hiren Kara, who has always wanted to educate people on the subject of animal abuse so that they do something about it. Therefore, it came as no surprise when he invited Poorva Joshipura, CEO of PETA India, to speak at the Club’s weekly meeting last Tuesday.After thanking Rtn. Hiren and the Club for inviting her, Poorva began her speech by stating PETA India’s main areas of focus, which include food industries, leather industries, the pet trade and animals used for entertainment and experimentation. She said that PETA India has managed to convince the Indian government to ban testing of cosmetics on animals and also got the Supreme Court to ban jallikattu, a bull-fighting festival.
She then explained how the organisation functions through the example of Sunder — the elephant who was held captive and abused at Jyotiba temple in Kolhapur. Poorva said, “Everything we take on has a strategy behind it. In Sunder’s case, we had to think carefully — the issue involved temple authorities, the politician who had given Sunder as a gift to the temple, the devotees and the local population. The potential problems we identified were religious sentiments, lack of public support, lack of will from the government’s end to do anything about the issue, power of local politicians, corruption and, of course, finding a suitable place for Sunder to go.”
However, PETA India believed those barriers could be overcome. They first approached the politician and told him that they were sure he did not donate the elephant. They asked him if they could step in and help the elephant in some way. Unfortunately, they found no support. So their next step was to use their second weapon, which was star power, media and public pressure. “Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney was busy rehearsing for his London Olympics performance. But he was moved by Sunder’s condition and wrote a letter to our government, asking for the elephant to be freed. Even actress Pamela Anderson got involved. We had a national alert on our website, which generated a lot of media interest. We continued meeting government authorities and, finally, our campaign awakened the interest of State and Central Governments. But just when we thought things were getting better, we faced another obstacle,” said Poorva. Sunder’s shed was guarded by armed men and the police did nothing about it, fearing the local politician’s power. The politician promised that he will work to create a better environment for Sunder.
But Poorva and her team did not believe him. She recalled, “We went to the Courts. We had the Central Government’s order for Sunder’s release but that was not enough. We had to go to the Bombay High Court. We had not seen Sunder and knew we had to get some more information on him, in order to win the case. So much time had passed that eventually the shed was no longer guarded by armed men. We went there with our cameras and captured the pathetic condition of Sunder.” The organisation intensified its efforts and went on to win the Supreme Court case. Sunder now stays in a 122-acre forested elephant care centre in Bannerghatta Biological Park.
Poorva concluded her speech by saying that PETA’s biggest secret to success is its compassion and respect for animals.
Excerpts from the Q&A session:
Q: How do you take care of animals like Sunder? Is it through donations from individuals or organisations concerned about animal welfare?
Poorva: From the financial perspective, donations keep PETA alive. We rely on donations of individuals who care for animals and want to see us continue our good work. We try to keep whatever we are doing visible because that is the only way one can stop animal abuse. People have to hear and know about it. We always make sure that everything we do is reflected in the media.
Q: In Sunder’s case, was any punishment meted out to the politician and other individuals involved in wrongdoing?
Poorva: Sadly, the answer is no. It took us a long time to even file a police complaint. No one was ready to take it up. In fact, an FIR has still not been filed. It took us two years to get Sunder out. We went to a local court in Kolhapur complaining that our FIR wasn’t taken. Our case got thrown out. We also filed a police complaint in Mumbai. Paper work was pushed through to Kolhapur but nothing
really happened.
Q: I want to ask you about the cruelty of horse-drawn carriages. We have them in Mumbai and many other places in the world. While it may be fun for some, what is PETA’s stand in the issue? There has been a controversy regarding it in Mumbai. The way horses are kept is
so pathetic.
Poorva: It is a serious issue and we are working hard to get the carriages banned. These animals don’t express pain like us human beings, but they are in pain. Their limbs are swollen and they have wound marks on their body. There is already a restriction on how many hours these animals should work. But it has not been implemented.
Q: You spoke about elephants but what about chickens who are killed miserably all over the world?
Poorva: It’s sad that sometimes people care more about elephants than chickens because chickens are the most abused animals on the planet. We are fighting a case in the Supreme Court, where we are trying to get an Enforcement Committee in different state governments to address the issues of animal transportation and slaughter laws. We put out investigation videos and encourage people not to eat them.