For Immediate Release:
11 November 2024
Contact:
Sanskriti Bansore; SanskritiB@petaindia.org
Hiraj Laljani; HirajL@petaindia.org
Hyderabad – “Because You Consume Dairy, Calves Die.” That’s the provocative sky-high message that’s just been erected in Hyderabad to coincide with World Vegan Month (November), courtesy of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India. The billboard is part of the group’s nationwide campaign calling attention to the hidden suffering behind dairy milk production and urging viewers to leave mother cows and buffaloes and their calves in peace by going vegan. (Vegans are vegetarians who reject all animal-derived foods.)
PETA India’s billboard is near Wesley Degree College, Hyderabad. The group has also placed the appeal in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.
“Every drop of dairy spells misery for male calves, who are slaughtered, starved to death, or abandoned, since they cannot produce milk, as well as immense grief for their mothers,” says PETA India Manager of Vegan Projects Dr Kiran Ahuja. “Female calves are also commonly torn away from their mothers and fed a replacer just so that the milk meant to nourish them can be stolen and sold to humans. PETA India urges everyone to choose compassion and opt for the many delicious vegan milks, yogurts, and cheeses that no one had to suffer or die for and that can also be easily made at home with nuts or other simple ingredients.”
In India, the beef industry is largely able to exist because the dairy sector supplies it with animals to kill. India is the second largest beef exporter in the world, and although the export of cow flesh is illegal, there have been reports of cow meat being mixed in with buffalo meat for exports. Today, cows and buffaloes used for dairy are increasingly being raised in a factory farm environment and artificially inseminated – that is, raped: a worker inserts an arm into the rectum and a metal rod carrying bull semen is forced into the vagina.
In addition to sparing animals immense suffering, each person who goes vegan shrinks their food-related carbon footprint by up to 73% and reduces their risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
PETA India notes that mother cows and buffaloes are devoted parents. In Uttara Kannada, one mother attempted to block the same bus every day for at least four years after it killed her calf in a traffic accident. She never tried to stop any other vehicles, and she continued this routine even after the driver changed the colour of the bus.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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