PETA Global Issue 2

Gajraj was a wedding gift to an Indian queen. Taken from his home at age 12, he spent more than five decades in shackles, exploited as a tourist attraction. Today, the elderly and ailing elephant is finally free, thanks to PETA India, its affiliates, and caring people around the world. PETA India’s eyewitness video footage showed him straining against his chains, swaying back and forth, and bobbing his head – signs of severe psychological distress caused by intensive confinement. He also developed infected abscesses and painful foot conditions resulting from being chained in one place and deprived of basic care by his mahout (handler). Gajraj, the Royal Elephant Chained for 50 Years, Is Free Rescued!

INDIA

A MESSAGE FROM Ingrid Newkirk PETA’s President

This issue is devoted to sea animals. Perhaps you heard that Italy has made it illegal for retailers and restaurants to keep lobsters on ice, because it is cruel to do so. And PETA Germany has achieved legal victories in its campaign to end the torment of catch-and-release fishing. What progress! I remember once spotting a man fishing in a Pennsylvania river. He was wrestling with an eel he had hooked through the throat with a five pronged metal gaff and was trying unsuccessfully to remove the gaff by pulling and twisting at it, but he couldn’t manage. To get it over with, I held the eel still so that he could use both hands. But suddenly, the man became impatient and yanked hard on the gaff, ripping the eel’s throat right out. At that moment, the eel and I made eye contact, and there was no mistaking the look of shock, horror, terror, and terrible pain. It has been years, but I’ll never shake the look in the eyes of that poor fish, who had been tortured and mortally injured – not by sadists on a crime spree but by a nice man who was just “relaxing” by the river.

For six years, PETA India sent veterinarians on the long journey to the village where Gajraj was being held in order to provide himwith medical treatment and give his owner advice, but they always met with resistance. Even essential medicines went unused, as did a cooling system and pads to protect against his chains. PETA’s president begged his owner, the queen of Aundh, to release him, but she refused. So PETA brought Gajraj’s plight to the world’s attention, alerting members and working with the UK newspaper The Sun to tell his story. Following intense meetings, the Maharashtra Forest Department seized him. Hundreds of villagers protested and threw rocks. But on June 14, Gajraj was placed on a truck to travel to his new home at the spacious Elephant Conservation and Care Centre. PETA paid for his journey and his care so that he can receive vital medical treatment, bathe in cool ponds, enjoy the company of other elephants, and, at last, be treated with care and respect.

USA

Why do otherwise kind people feel comfortable terrorizing fish? Because they can’t relate to them. They don’t think fish are sensitive, intelligent individuals like dogs or cows or you or me.

PETA ‘Veganizes’ Taco Bell

PETA started working to change that perception long before anyone ever thought about “finding” Nemo – long before any other organization. PETA even featured a lobster on the cover of its magazine back in 1989 as part of a “Lobster Liberation” campaign. Sea animals are people, too, and we’ll spread that message until all-you-can-eat “seafood” buffets are scorned and anglers get hooked on compassion.

PETA ran ads on billboards near Taco Bell restaurants – without the company’s approval – to encourage customers to choose vegan options. PETA’s sexy chicks dished up free bean burritos to show diners that eating vegan at Taco Bell is as simple as ordering meals made up of any of the 26 pant-based ingredients on the menu.

2 GLOBAL NEWS