Tag: Petaindia

BEHIND THE SCENES: A CONCEALED FACE OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY

The fashion-cosmetic industry is a multibillion-dollar consumer-focused ever-growing global enterprise that has become an indispensable part of our lives. Everyone has a fashion or cosmetic brand which is close to their heart, but are heedless of its dark side. Animals and animal materials are vastly used in the industry, but the barbaric processes behind this are often left unaddressed. Certain kinds of animals are overbred for the production of fashion products with animal materials resulting in the extreme use of resources and the production of organic and toxic waste. These animals are denied basic comforts of living where they are confined in abhorrent conditions with restricted space for movement, mere food and brutally slaughtered at the end. Certain exotic endangered species also fall into this wretched fate for fashion. When affected with diseases, these animals are often rejected medical care and are placed alive in plastic bags to die. 

Animals are skinned alive for fur, feather, leather, wool, etc and are also subjected to various chemical experiments for the cosmetic industry. Millions of animals including unborn calves are skinned for the production of leather, a timeless trend of the fashion industry. These animals are treated ruthlessly where they reach the factories deprived of food, water and rest; are castrated and skinned alive by hanging upside down and eventually bled to death. Many believe that sheep are not harmed for the production of wool but on the contrary, they also have to undergo inhumane treatments like mulesing during the process. It is estimated that about 1 million sheep die from exposure to cold as the wool which is meant to protect them from the weather is sheared off in winter itself to meet the market demands. In Australia, a global leader in merino wool production, sheep are specifically bred to have wrinkled skin to increase wool production. But this makes their skin more prone to flystrike, a condition where the flies lay eggs in the skin folds and maggots eat the sheep alive. In order to prevent flystrike, mulesing, a practice in which huge pieces of skin are carved off the buttocks area is done. This process which causes great pain to the animal is carried out without anaesthesia. The sheep are sent to slaughterhouses once their wool production descends. Birds like parakeets, egrets, ostriches, and animals like mink, chinchillas, foxes, dogs, rabbits, cats etc caught for their feathers and fur also undergo the same fate. 

In order to ensure the safety of the customers, the companies of cosmetic and personal care products use animals to test their products. As the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS) describes, animals are subject to “testing new drugs to infecting with diseases, poisoning for toxicity testing, burning skin, causing brain damage, implanting electrodes into the brain, maiming, blinding, and other painful and invasive procedures.” Mice, birds, rabbits, monkeys, dogs, and cats are the common victims of vivisection (live testing) and spend the majority of their lifetime inside cages of laboratories. The exposure to these chemicals have severe impacts on these animals.  Pain relievers are never provided and they always die or get killed at the end of each test. 

We should strive to help these animals to have a life instead of “trapping animals in bone-breaking steel traps, clubbing them to death, electrocuting them through the mouth or anus, breaking their necks and backs, skinning them alive”. A fashion industry without harming animals is always possible and we all share this responsibility as this world is theirs too.

When Peta’s Credibility Questioned | Time to be a Wise Donar

PETA India, over the years, has earned itself the reputation of being a hypocrite of the highest order. They have been known to selectively target Hindu traditions and customs with religious zeal while giving other religions a free pass. The few occasions PETA India did manage to raise their voice, they quickly silenced themselves due to rousing opposition.

Recently PETA was questioned for its campaign of go-leather-free during the festival of Rakshabandhan. Suspicion was raised when there ad banner had referrings to Rakshabandhan and on the same banner they had mentioned in bold ‘go leather free’. Now the fact is during Rakshabandhan festival everything has to be purely Sanatan (Broader name of Hinduism) that is purely vegetarian. Anything made of leather would actually break the rituals of Praying.


But now, it appears PETA India has found another target. And it is columnist Shefali Vaidya. The NGO in cohorts with Congress and left-liberal trolls has embarked upon a concerted campaign against the columnist for calling out the hypocrisy of the supposed animal rights organisation with regards to Eid where animals are slaughtered and anti-cow leather campaign in times of Rakshabandhan.
However, the campaign against Shefali Vaidya has backfired on them terribly as netizens used the opportunity to expose their hypocrisy. It soon became evident that PETA India is more concerned about the criticism it faces on social media than actual physical attacks on its workers by Islamist mobs.
One social media user pointed out the time when PETA activists were assaulted by a Muslim mob in Bhopal in 2014 for campaigning for vegetarianism ahead of Bakr-Eid. The Police even registered a case under section 295A against three activists for allegedly outraging the religious sentiments of the Muslim community. For some reason, PETA India has been horribly quiet about the incident for some unknown reasons.
Others pointed out that three years after Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor was awarded the title of PETA India’s ‘hottest vegetarian celebrity’, the daughter of Bollywood star Anil Kapoor had taken to consuming chicken and fish.
People also pointed out that less than a week after PETA India gifted Shilpa Shetty Kundra the ‘Hero to Animals’ award, the Bollywood actress could be seen on YouTube preparing a Roast Turkey recipe.
Then there was the case of Richa Chadha who PETA India heaped praises on for being ‘kind to animals’ but the actress was one of those individuals who was resolutely against the ‘beef ban’.
The most disingenuous sign of hypocrisy came from PETA India’s endorsement of Sonam Kapoor. While the Bollywood actress was awarded by the supposed animal’s rights organisation, she endorses products made of 100% animal skin.
Similarly, PETA conferred a ‘Hero to Animals’ award on actress Dia Mirza, who had earlier shared ‘Kachi Yakhni Ki Biryani’ recipe that is made of chicken or any other animal meat.
Why does PETA kill cats and dogs by the thousands instead of finding them homes? Simply, PETA does not believe in pet ownership. Ingrid Newkirk has called pet ownership “an abysmal situation.” She further elaborated on her goal for destroying the human-pet bond: “If people want toys, they should buy inanimate objects. If they want companionship, they should seek it with their own kind.”
“In the end, I think it would be lovely if we stopped this whole notion of pets altogether,” she has said.
Ridiculously, PETA has argued that outdoor cats should be summarily killed instead of allowed to live. In a 2014 interview with the Washington Post, Newkirk argued that outdoor cats would be better off dead because they might contract a future illness or be hit by a car in the future. In PETA’s twisted mind, it’s more humane to just euthanize the animals than for a hypothetical harm to befall them in the future. Similarly, PETA has also argued in court that elephants are better off being killed than living in American zoos where they are well cared for.
PETA’s pro-killing attitude is part of its core—and it should shock any animal lover.