Sprinter Dutee Chand Stars in New PETA India Ad: ‘Take Pride in Respecting Animals’
Wearing her running gear and posing alongside an adorable rescued pup named Mishka, Olympic sprinter Dutee Chand – the country’s first professional athlete to come out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community – stars in a new PETA India ad for International Animal Rights Day (10 December). The ad was shot by photographer Akhil Ranjan with make-up and hairstyling by Sunanda Mathur. Mishka was accompanied by Animal Welfare Trust Ekamra.
“Animals on the streets have tough lives, so it’s up to all of us to speak out if we ever witness them being abused. My friends at PETA India and I encourage everyone to treat animals with kindness and respect, just as we all want to be treated every day.” – Dutee Chand
Across India, thousands of homeless cats and dogs are hungry and thirsty, are killed by vehicles, sustain broken bones, suffer from infected wounds, and are abused by cruel people. Buying cats and dogs from breeders or pet stores only exacerbates the homeless-animal overpopulation crisis, which is why PETA India urges everyone to adopt animals from shelters. We also encourage everyone to have their animal companions sterilised in order to help reduce the homeless-animal population so that dogs and cats have the best possible chance of getting good homes.
Chand is part of a long list of celebrities – including Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Alia Bhatt, Shikhar Dhawan, John Abraham, Sidharth Malhotra, Sonam Kapoor, and Sania Mirza – who’ve teamed up with us to promote kindness to animals.
PETA India opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. To report instances of cruelty to animals or animals in need of emergency care, please call our emergency helpline on +91 9820122602.
