Dolphins don't belong in tiny glass tanks, and India wants to make sure that they won't be put there.  

iStockphoto.com/joe32780

When PETA India learned that state governments were planning to put dolphin parks in several parts of the country, it immediately contacted Minister of Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan. The group reminded her that the Animal Welfare Board of India, which must give its permission before animals may be used in performances, said that it has not granted and will not grant permission for companies to keep dolphins in captivity, as tearing dolphins away from their families, confining them to tiny tanks, and forcing them to perform likely constitutes cruelty and violates India's Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

Natarajan was in complete agreement with PETA India and the board and announced that the ministry would deny all proposals for dolphin parks. 

In the U.S. and Canada, dolphins aren't so lucky. Animal advocates must continue to speak out against aquariums and swim-with-dolphins programs. 

Tennessee lawmakers passed the state's proposed "ag-gag" bill, which would require video shot on factory farms in order to expose animal abuse to be turned over to law enforcement within 48 hours. The governor has 10 days to sign or veto the bill, and Tennessee resident Carrie Underwood is determined to stop the unconstitutional bill in its tracks. She expressed her outrage over Twitter: "Shame on TN lawmakers for passing the Ag Gag bill. If Gov. Bill Haslam signs this, he needs to expect me at his front door. Who's with me?" 

Advocates for animals and free speech can join Carrie by tweeting polite messages to @BillHaslam. 

As always, scores of celebrities reached millions of Twitter users with animal-friendly messages this week:

The mercury is just now starting to rise, but Eva Mendes is already devising ways to make the fall fur-free. Disappointed that designers continue to use real fur, she is releasing her own animal-friendly evening-wear collection. Eva, who proved that she would rather go naked than wear fur, told Look magazine, "Within the fashion industry I can't believe designers still use real fur in their designs when it's so easy to make faux fur. It's cheap and looks great."

And speaking of rising mercury, feast your eyes on PETA India's newest spokesperson, Vidyut Jammwal. You may not be familiar with this Bollywood star and his veggie-powered bod just yet, but you will soon want to be. As one PETA director put it, "Everyone deserves to be able to cast their eyes on him."

Had enough heat? If not, then check out our buds, fellow adoption advocates Mickey Rourke and Kellan Lutz, in their hot new thriller, Java Heat. 

To keep up with what all your favorite stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter. 

Next month, thousands of bullocks, ponies, and horses in India will soon be forced to walk and run as far as 150 miles, hauling carts full of families and goods to the annual Chinchali Fair. Along the way, some of them will collapse from exhaustion, injuries, dehydration, and despair. Others will try to soldier on, enduring injuries from the heavy yoke, increasing lameness, and the sting of the whip.

Animal Rahat, an organization of veterinarians and relief workers funded by PETA, plans to set up stations along the route to and from the four-day fair to bring some measure of relief to animals in distress—and the group needs your help. 

The attention that each animal will receive from Animal Rahat may prove crucial. The veterinarians will bandage wounds, provide water and food, adjust or replace harnesses and straps that are causing pain, demand rest for those who are faltering, and give medical treatment to animals who would otherwise lack the most basic care.

What You Can Do

Have you ever had someone offer help at a moment when you needed it most? Making a gift to Animal Rahat is the perfect way to pay it forward—and with the fair only weeks away, now's the time!

PETA and animals have lost a great friend. Ravi Shankar, the late sitar maestro, Beatles collaborator, and honorary patron of PETA India, frequently spoke up to help end animal suffering.

Together with his daughter Anoushka, Ravi Shankar appeared in print and TV ads promoting stronger laws protecting animals. 

Just a few of his many efforts in behalf of animals include appealing to the Indian government to strengthen laws protecting animals, which he continued to push for all his life. He participated in a PETA India news conference to support a lawsuit brought before the Indian Supreme Court accusing the central government, each state government, and the Animal Welfare Board of India of failing to enforce laws that are supposed to protect animals abused in the leather and meat industries. He also wrote to fast-food chain KFC urging the company to address the severe cruelty to the chickens killed for its restaurants.

To honor Ravi's memory, PETA India hopes the government will act today to pass the draft Animal Welfare Act 2011 and that each person who feels his loss will commemorate his compassion for animals by doing just one kind thing today—be it offering food to a hungry stray dog or writing to the Ministry of Environment and Forests and asking it to strengthen India's animal protection laws. 

Ravi worked with PETA and PETA India to bring harmony into animals' lives. He will always be remembered for his music and for his compassion for animals. We send his family our condolences.

When PETA India Science Policy Adviser Dr. Chaitanya Koduri and his wife, Vidya, found Laila, she was a terrified puppy alone on the streets of Mumbai. But after the couple welcomed her into their home, giving her the care and affection that every dog deserves, Laila blossomed into, as Dr. Koduri describes, "this beautiful, naughty girl who will never get tired of playing. She needs to put her nose into anything and everything."

As you can see, Laila—showing her paws decorated with golden turmeric—gladly joined in the family festivities on Ganesha Chaturthi, which celebrates the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the Hindu deity with the head of an elephant. 

What You Can Do

As Laila's story shows, people who offer homes to animals in need not only save those animals' lives but also fill their own homes and hearts with boundless love. Please never buy from breeders or pet shops—always adopt. 

Update:

Over the weekend, Sunder became violent and uncontrollable and attempted to escape. The fierce outburst included pulling down a heavy pillar to which he was tied with strong ropes and ransacking local retail shops—actions that show that he is suffering severely and is desperate to flee from his abusers.

Pillar to which Sunder was tied

Sunder, back in the dark shed, chained

PETA India has demanded an emergency meeting with Maharashtra Forest Minister Dr. Patangrao Shripatrao Kadam to secure Sunder's relocation to a sanctuary, pointing out that people living in and around the temple are at risk of being harmed or killed and that the mahout and temple management are now likely to abuse Sunder even more as they try to control him. Please write to Dr. Kadam today and get everyone you know to do the same. Urge him politely but firmly to arrange for Sunder's relocation immediately. The world is watching. Thank you.

Originally posted August 6:

You may have heard that just before the London Olympic Games, Paul McCartney halted rehearsals to make an urgent plea in behalf of a suffering young elephant. Now, PETA India has obtained new photographic evidence of the abuse that the elephant is enduring while being used as a living begging bowl and beaten by a vicious, inept young mahout (trainer).

At just 13 years old, Sunder has already experienced terrible torment. Kept in chains in a dark shed at the Jyotiba Temple in Maharashtra, India, he is unable to take even a single step without causing a spike to jab his skin.

When he is taken out of the shed in order to beg for money for this wealthy temple, the mahout controls him with a spiked chain, a sharp bullhook (which is like a fireplace poker), and other weapons that force Sunder to follow orders out of fear of being struck.

Sunder is often seen with fresh wounds that he sustained during beatings, and the marks that cover his body stand as evidence of years of abuse. A PETA India–supported program, Animal Rahat, was finally given permission to provide the elephant with veterinary care for his right eye, which was likely injured from being jabbed with a bullhook.

Sunder is also denied adequate food and water and never experiences anything that is natural and important to him, such as exploring the woods and enjoying the company of other elephants.

A complaint has been filed with police against Sunder's mahout, since the torment that he inflicts on the elephant is in violation of the Wildlife Protection acts of 1972 and 2002 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. PETA India and the veterinarians present are also requesting that Forest Minister Dr. Patangrao Shripatrao Kadam use his authority to have Sunder surrendered and retired to a proper sanctuary that PETA India has standing by to receive him.

Help free Sunder! E-mail the forest minister, Dr. Kadam, and urge him to free Sunder without a moment's delay.

Paul McCartney just made an Olympic-sized move for animals. In the midst of preparations for the London Olympics, which begin tomorrow, he put rehearsals on hold to send an urgent letter to Indian Forest Minister Dr. Patangrao Shripatrao Kadam asking him to help rescue an abused baby elephant. 

The young elephant, named Sunder, is confined to a dark shed at the Jyotiba Temple in Maharashtra, where he is kept in chains that have sharp spikes attached to them. The spikes stab Sunder's feet, making it impossible for him to take a single step in any direction. PETA India learned that Sunder also has lesions all over his body from where his handler has beaten him with a bullhook (a sharp metal device that looks like a fireplace poker) and that his right eye is injured from being jabbed with the bullhook.

In his letter, Paul implored:

You can help! Urge the Maharashtra Forest Minister to use his authority to rescue Sunder and send him to a sanctuary.

Exciting news from our pals at PETA India! Following that group's extensive campaign, the Indian government has issued guidelines to the Medical Council of India, the Pharmacy Council of India, and the University Grants Commission instructing them to completely stop dissection and experimentation on animals to train both undergraduate and postgraduate students and use non-animal methods of teaching instead.

.sandhu|cc by 2.0

Going All Out for All Animals in Laboratories

This campaign was hard-fought. In addition to writing letters to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (which issued the guidelines) and the entities mentioned above, efforts included gathering petition signatures from university students, letters from and meetings held by progressive scientists, and work by other caring individuals as well as online outreach, celebrity involvement, media pressure, and demonstrations. And of course, the PETA Foundation's administrative, fundraising, and finance departments helped keep the campaign afloat.

Another key to this victory was a recent brainstorming session among government scientists and other researchers in which PETA India participated, making the point that animals are not required in order to train students. Indeed, as the ministry said in issuing the guidelines, "Nowadays effective alternatives in the form of CDs, computer simulations, manikin/models, in vitro methods, etc are available and they are not only effective and absolute replacements to the use of animals in teaching anatomy/physiology but they are also superior pedagogic tools in the teaching of pharmacy/life sciences."

How You Can Help Animals in University Laboratories

Countless animals continue to suffer and die in laboratories at U.S. colleges and universities—please take action to persuade the U.S. to follow India's compassionate and forward-thinking example.

Photo Of the Day

Bollywood beauty Dia Mirza put herself in a skinned snake's shoes to ask her fans to walk away from exotic-animal skins.

Photo: Jatin Kampani | Stylist: Theia Tekchananey | Make-up: Nahush Pise | Hair: Shobha Kewal

"[J]ust putting myself in the place of that snake or that crocodile made me feel sick," she said. "How can you wear anything that kills an animal so cruelly to make yourself look good?"

The style that looks good from Bollywood to Boston is kindness. Check out PETA's Polyvore page for oodles of hip, cruelty-free fashions.

I thought living downwind of the reeking refineries in east Houston reflected badly on the oil industry, but that's just a mere annoyance compared to the suffering of bulls at the hands of oil companies in India. That's why one of our friends from PETA India took over the stage at the Oil and Gas Review Summit and International Exhibition in Mumbai to urge India's wealthy oil biz leaders to replace carts drawn by bulls with modern, non-animal forms of transport. The PETA India staffer was dragged out of the conference—chanting "Shame!"

Let's hope that she opened some eyes (and hearts). Most of the bulls used to transport fuel from oil ports to rationing stations in Mumbai are underfed and malnourished and kept in filthy conditions, and many suffer from chronic inflammation, maggot-infested wounds, infections, or intestinal problems. They are forced to work until they are exhausted, pulling heavy loads through all weather extremes.

To learn how you can help end these bullocks' suffering, see PETA India's action alert and please make a donation to Animal Rahat, which was created to make a difference in the lives of working bullocks, donkeys, ponies and horses.

Written by Jeff Mackey