People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has placed billboards in Panaji and Thiruvananthapuram reminding viewers that there are no qualifiers attached to the commandment not to kill. The appeal is part of an international plea by PETA affiliates for mercy to all creation, and billboards have also risen around Vatican City in Rome as well as in numerous cities in the US. They’ve gone up just in time for families to consider taking a loving, vegan pledge for the Easter holiday weekend.
Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA affiliates worldwide, said, “We believe that the meaning of the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ includes love and respect for all animals, and we urge an end to all slaughter. PETA affiliates are encouraging everyone to enjoy merciful vegan meals that leave God’s creatures in peace.”
PETA US runs a resource page for Christians interested in animal rights, PETALAMBS.com. And the BBC states, “Most Christians today are agreed that although humans have dominion over animals this is a role of responsibility not privilege, and they have an obligation to treat animals as humanely as possible as animals are sensitive and capable of suffering.”
But in today’s profit-driven food industry, workers chop off chickens’ beaks, castrate pigs without painkillers, steal calves from their mothers, confine animals in filthy and cramped conditions, and even slit the throats of frightened animals in slaughterhouses while they’re fully conscious.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview – offers a free vegan starter kit filled with tips, recipes, and more on its website.
PETA India’s ad in Panaji is located at the city entrance, near casinos and cruise boats.