Vijender Singh Knocks Out Cruelty
Restrained in chains and holding a placard reading “Shackled, Beaten, Abused. Animal Don’t Belong in the Circus”, Olympic bronze medalist and acclaimed Indian boxer Vijender Singh posed for a new PETA India campaign. Singh – who is the first Indian to win an Olympic medal in boxing and who also won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sports honour – wants people to know that animals in circuses are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them and are regularly beaten, all for a lifetime of cheap tricks.
“Animals cherish their freedom every bit as much as we do, but circuses deny them their freedom and every other form of natural expression”, says Singh. “I’m asking people across India to help knock out cruelty by never attending a circus that uses animals.”
Animals in circuses are subjected to chronic confinement, physical abuse and psychological torment. Whips and other weapons – including ankuses, which are heavy, sharp steel-tipped rods – are used to inflict pain on animals and beat them into submission. Even when they aren’t performing, animals in circuses suffer a lifetime of misery. Horses are kept tethered on short ropes, and elephants are kept chained.
The government has already banned the use of bears, monkeys, tigers, panthers, bulls and lions in performances. PETA India now calls on the government to follow the lead of Bolivia and Greece by banning the use of all animals in circuses. Join us urging the government to stop the use of animals in circuses.
