A History of Cow Abuse: Pamela Anderson to the Rescue

[Guest guest]

from the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_655000/655593.stm

 

 

 

Baywatch star backs cow campaign

 

Millions of cows are killed each year to make leather goods

 

 

 

By Sanjeev Srivastava in Bombay

 

One of the largest animal rights organisation in the world - People for the

Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) - has launched a world-wide campaign

against the Indian leather industry - with the backing of ex-Baywatch star

Pamela Anderson Lee.

 

According to a Peta spokesperson, millions of cows are killed every year to

produce cheap leather goods which are much in demand in the west.

 

Pamela Anderson Lee: Lending her voice

 

A video released by Peta activists has a narration by Pamela Anderson Lee

asking people to think twice before they buy their next leather jacket,

belt, pair of shoes or gloves.

 

The glamorous former star of the American soap opera Baywatch is reported to

have agreed to voice the video after seeing footage secretly shot by Peta

activists in India over the past year.

 

The video shows graphic images of dead and dying cattle being unloaded from

trucks and unscrupulous dealers deliberately crippling healthy animals so

that they could be declared fit for slaughter.

 

The animal rights group is also launching a website that will be promoted by

Indian film stars as part of its awareness campaign.

 

Contrasting reactions

 

For Indians, the involvement of Pamela Anderson Lee will generate

contrasting reactions.

 

While she is fairly popular among some middle-class satellite television

viewers, her appeal is unlikely to be heeded by many poorer people, or the

captains of industry who have much at stake in the booming Indian leather

industry.

 

The Indian leadership for its part is unlikely to take any decisive action

in relation to the slaughter of cows, which has been a highly contentious

issue in the country for many years.

 

Many right-wing Hindu organisations such as the RSS have carried out

campaigns against the killing of cows, which are revered in the Hindu faith.

 

Most slaughtering is carried out by Muslims on behalf of the leather trade,

which has a turnover of millions of dollars a year.