The Hindu : New Delhi News : Crouching tigress, with a message

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 27, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Crouching tigress, with a message

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

`Boycott circuses with animal acts'

NEW DELHI: In a new advertisement for People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)-India's new youth arm, petaDishoom, Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty is seen wearing a body suit and crouching in a small cage to illustrate the misery of animals confined to circuses.

Shot by ace photographer Atul Kasbekar, the ad encourages people to boycott circuses with animal acts. Shilpa is featured with the tagline: "Beaten, Lonely and Abused -- Boycott The Circus."

Shilpa and PETA remind people that circuses portray a distorted view of wildlife. The lives of animals that are forced to perform repetitious, confusing and often-painful tricks are miserable. Animals do not naturally ride bicycles, stand on the head or jump through rings of fire, so circus handlers use whips, electric shock prods and other tools of torture to train them. Circus animals work based on fear, knowing they will be hurt if they do not obey. Tigers do not jump through rings of fire in the wild; they are afraid of fire. Even the animals' access to basic necessities including clean water, sufficient food and vital veterinary care is often ignored, she points out.

This month marks the anniversary of the gruesome incident in which 21 animals, belonging to a circus were burnt alive in Mumbai. Shilpa is reminding everyone who might be tempted to go to a circus that animals in circuses are sorely abused, often inadequately fed, and routinely hit to make them obey commands for a few moments of unenlightened public amusement.

"By no means was I comfortable during the photo shoot crouched in that small cage," says Shilpa, a long-time supporter of PETA. "But what were a few fleeting moments of discomfort for me compared to what life must be like for the precious animals held in captivity? These once dignified animals only leave their cage, which are barely larger than the size of their bodies, for a few minutes each day to be forced into the ring to perform tricks which make no sense and are upsetting to them. The best way to help animals suffering in circuses is to boycott the circus."

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