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Beatle to PM: Save India's cows
Beatle to PM: Save India's cows
Abhik Sen
The Asian Age
March 9, 2000
Title: Beatle to PM:
Save India's cows
Author: Abhik Sen
Publication: Asian Age
Date: March 9, 2000.
Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney
is writing a letter to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee urging him to
take firm measures to stop the cruelty involved in the largescale slaughter
of cows in India.
The letter, to be delivered
to the PM next week, slams India for the maltreatment of animals and the
corruption rife in the country's leather industry.
Meanwhile, animal rights
groups, with the support of celebrities, have launched a campaign against
the use of Indian leather by big fashion houses. Baywatch star and pin-up
model Pamela Anderson Lee, narrator of a video exposé documenting
violations of India's animal protection laws, has sent copies of the video
to high-profile fashion designers in the West who get their leather from
India, and asked them to stop using Indian leather.
On Thursday, activists
led by The Pretenders vocalist Chrissie Hynde launched a protest against
the trendy clothing label, Gap, for using Indian leather in its latest
collection. Hynde has also turned down Gap's offer of $100,000 to use one
of her hit songs in its latest "Everybody in Leather" TV commercial.
"The Constitution of
India prohibits the slaughter of cows and calves, and the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals Act mandates humane treatment for all animals but almost
all laws relating to cow slaughter are flouted in India. It is the second
biggest exporter of leather after China but the treatment of animals is
horrendous. Restrictions on transportation are also ignored. The developed
world is as guilty for exporting its worst practices to India to satisfy
its appetite for cheap leather," Ms Ingrid Newkirk, director of the People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (UK), told The Asian Age.
"Paul is writing to
the Indian Prime Minister with the plea that the treatment of cows deserves
the urgent attention of the government," she added. Peta recently handed
over the findings of its investigation into the treatment of animals and
malpractices in the leather industry to the Indian government with a plea
for swift action.
But, according to Peta
activists, the response has been discouraging. Campaigners are particularly
disheartened by the fact that cows are treated so cruelly in India, a land
where they are supposed to be sacred, but where "Western demand for cheap
leather has spawned a grotesquely cruel underground industry." The Peta
investingation found that although it is illegal to slaughter cows
in most states, skin-traders use bribes to smuggle the animals at night.
The cows and calves are marched for days to slaughter in gross violation
of laws. "Those who collapse from exhaustion have their eyes smeared with
chillies and tobacco and sometimes their tails are broken to ensure they
keep on moving," said Ms Newkirk.
In the video, Pamela
Anderson Lee narrates: "In India, cows have been revered for thousands
of years-seen as the symbol of motherhood and givers of life. But now,
these animals are being killed. Why? Not just for meat-although what little
flesh they have on their bones is exported to Muslim countries. The big
demand is from the United States and Europe, and it's for their skin."
The Peta probe also
revealed that as most of the meat from Indian cattle is meant for export
to Muslim countries the cattle are supposed to be killed in the halal tradition.
But the process, which requires a quick slice across the throat with a
sharp knife, is often forsaken for indiscriminate hacking and sawing. "India's
leather industry is perhaps the most cruel in the world. Since it is illegal
to kill healthy, young cattle, they are often deliberately maimed. Their
legs are often broken or they are poisoned so that they can be declared
fit for slaughter," the report claimed.
Peta investigators also
discovered that cattle are not the only animals killed for their skins.
While horses, sheep, lambs, goats and pigs are routinely slaughtered after
suffering the horrors of factory farming, other species are hunted and
killed specifically for their skins, including zebras, bison, boars, deer,
kangaroos, elephants, eels, sharks, dolphins, seals, walruses, frogs, crocodiles,
lizards and snakes. "Rats, cats and stray dogs are also killed for leather,
but since people are typically put off by this fact, it is passed off as
simply 'leather,'" the report noted.
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