What is the Vanguard Society?

Members of PETA India’s Vanguard Society are driving change for animals.

This distinguished group of committed donors is advancing groundbreaking projects that save lives and end suffering.

By joining the Vanguard Society, your leadership, compassion, and generosity will help position PETA India at the forefront of animal advocacy. Together, we will pave the way for a world in which all animals live free from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

Animals need you to protect them.

When you become a Vanguard Society member, your contribution of Rs 15,000 or more will immediately be put to work to help spare sensitive individuals exploitation in experiments or for food, clothing, entertainment, or other trivial human interests.

Your Vanguard Society membership donation brings hope for animals of a life free from pain and suffering.

Recognising the Impact of Our Vanguard Society Leaders

Vanguard Society members are essential to ending animal abuse by providing vital funds across all aspects of our work. Their generous support enables us to respond swiftly to ensure that animals in crisis receive the care and protection they urgently need.

Below are just a few of the PETA India projects fuelled by Vanguard Society membership donations.

Mechanical Temple Elephants
PETA India recently introduced an innovative solution to protecting elephants from exploitation in temples across India, where they are often deprived of adequate food, water, veterinary care, mental stimulation, and social interaction. Ultrarealistic robotic models – the first of their kind – have been designed to replace elephants in ceremonies and festivals. These 3.5-metre-tall, 800-kilogram elephants can flap their ears, swish their tails, and spray water with their trunks, all without causing any harm to animals. The groundbreaking initiative spares living, feeling beings a lifetime of misery and is already helping to end the archaic practice of using real elephants for temple rituals across the country.

Delhi Mechanisation Project
In Delhi – one of the most crowded cities in the world – hundreds of animals are used to transport heavy carts loaded with timber, food, metal, and other goods. To protect them from exploitation and improve cart owners’ livelihoods, PETA India launched the Delhi Mechanisation Project, replacing bullock and horse carts with battery-operated e-rickshaws. Thanks to this life-saving programme, hundreds of bullocks, horses, and mules previously subjected to hard labour have been rehabilitated at lush sanctuaries, where all their needs are met, and their former owners have benefitted, too.

Compassionate Citizen Programme
PETA India’s humane education programme, Compassionate Citizen, has been used by over 2,00,000 schools across India and has provided more than 9.3 crore students with accessible, fun lessons on being kind to animals and having empathy for all living, feeling beings. The educational kit is a one-stop interdisciplinary curriculum that includes captivating facts, easy-to-understand analogies that help students empathise with another individual’s experience, a 23-minute video featuring inspiring stories, age-appropriate information on the principle of treating others as they would want to be treated, and ways kids can save animals.

In May 2023, we launched Ellie, a 1.8-metre-tall animatronic elephant, voiced by UN Environment Programme Goodwill Ambassador and actor Dia Mirza. Ellie tells the story of a young elephant’s journey through captivity – being forced to perform, kept in chains, and subjected to beatings – and her happy life at a sanctuary following her rescue. Since the launch, Ellie has met more than 1,00,000 adoring students, fostering compassion for all sentient beings among the youth.

Who was Vanguard?

Vanguard was a timid, small dog slated for a terribly cruel and fatal deep-sea diving experiment by a US naval research laboratory. He had already endured agonising procedures that had killed countless other dogs and caused blood to spurt from his nostrils and his eardrums to be crushed.

When PETA US discovered Vanguard’s plight, they leapt into action and rescued him from the laboratory. He was covered in sores and infected wounds, but the resilient dog blossomed into a healthy, happy individual, thanks to special care and lots of love.

In honour of Vanguard’s courage, the Vanguard Society was established, comprising our most dedicated supporters who lead the charge for animal rights. The leadership, compassion, and generosity of our Vanguard Society members make it possible for PETA India to protect animals from exploitation and relieve their suffering.

 

Join the Vanguard Society to help lead the way to a cruelty-free future for animals.

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