Un-Fur-Gettable Protests
From bloodied sheep outside fashion stores to animal-themed street theatre, animal-rights groups are turning protest into theatrical performance to make cruelty impossible to ignore
Actor John Abraham shackled in chains, urging people to stop elephant rides. A model posing as a bloodied sheep outside a high-end fashion store. Another model sprawled on a barbecue grill protesting meat consumption. Two weeks before her death, Hayden Panettiere posed nude in a bathtub urging people to boycott marine park shows and rides.
The goal is not just to grab attention but to expose animal cruelty and the things behind what we wear, eat and consume. “The biggest blind spot is what happens to animals behind closed doors in laboratories, factory farms and slaughterhouses,” says Sachin Bangera, Vice President of Celebrity & Public Relations, PETA India. Awareness is the need of the hour as most people are compassionate and do not want to be associated with animal cruelty.
Conversation Starters
But getting people to look is only half the battle won. Getting them to actually talk is what matters. Pradeep Parakuth, Founder, Animal Warriors Conservation Society, Hyderabad, says, “Verbal communication is not always very impactful. Visual communication creates a lasting impact.”
It is from here that conversations find their way into peer groups and everyday discussions. Citing films such as Earthlings, Pradeep explains that presenting the reality of animal suffering can bring about a shift in public attitudes.
Across the country, animal rights organisations and individuals are trying to spread awareness and expose what happens behind closed doors. How beagles are confined to small cages and poisoned for product tests. How chickens are crammed into tiny cages and bulls deliberately provoked with jabs and nose-pulling before being forced into jallikattu arenas. Sachin says, “Caged birds often suffer depression and pluck out their own feathers. Cows may be skinned alive and sheep suffer deep cuts during wool shearing.”
Show Must Go Viral
For animal rights groups, the aim is to make cruelty impossible to ignore. A dramatic protest may last only a few minutes, but its powerful images can travel far beyond the streets through news and social media. Unlike fashion houses and leather industries that spend crores on advertising, animal rights groups use creativity. Several celebrities work pro bono for animal rights campaigns. For example, Sunny Leone, who featured in an advertisement depicting her skin being ripped off to encourage her fans to choose vegan fashion.
By using striking visuals, theatrical campaigns, they make animal suffering visible, challenge indifference and urge people to question the cruelty behind animal cruelty.
Animal Welfare Advocacy
According to Aprajita Ashish, Founder, Animal Climate & Health Save Foundation/Animal Save India and Director at World Vegan Vision, every activity, whether holding a banner or placard, doing street outreach or organising a dramatic demonstration, must carry a clear “Call to Action.”
She believes people need something concrete to follow up with, whether it is a vegan recipe, a documentary or a group to join. For Aprajita, simply shocking someone is not enough. She emphasises that a moment of emotion can lead to change only when there is something solid to carry it forward. “Animals are not here for us. They are here with us,” says Aprajita. Just as humans share the planet with one another, animals too have a place on it.
She stresses that taking animal-welfare advocacy into fashion, pop culture, art and street theatre is important because these spaces shape what society considers normal. Ultimately, advocacy must go beyond making people stop and stare. It must make people rethink, care and act. Compassion means little unless it changes how we treat animals. The aim is to make compassion part of everyday thinking and encourage people to see animals as fellow beings, not resources to be used.
“The biggest blind spot is what happens to animals behind closed doors of laboratories, factory farms and slaughterhouses.”
Sachin Bangera, VP, Celebrity & Public Relations, PETA India
“Verbal communication is not always very impactful. Visual communications create a lasting impact.”
Pradeep Parakuth, Founder, Animal Warriors Conservation Society, Hyderabad