Courtesy:
IndiaFM
Thursday,
June
21,
2007
Clad
in
a
black
outfit
created
by
Bollywood
designer
Rocky
S,
model
and
actor
Yana
Gupta
appears
next
to
the
tagline
"Bears
Are
Not
Item
Numbers" in
a
new
ad
for
petaDishoom,
the
youth
division
of
PETA
India.
Shot
by
ace
photographer
Atul
Kasbekar,
the
ad
is
part
of
the
group's
continuing
campaign
to
raise
awareness
of
cruelty
to
bears
that
are
used
for
entertainment.
Why
is
Yana
so
angry
about
cruelty
to
bears?
"Dancing" bears
are
a
common
-
but
tragic
-
sight
in
India.
When
they
are
just
1
year
old,
cubs
have
ropes
forced
through
their
noses
without
any
painkillers.
During
this
process,
a
group
of
people
hold
the
cub
down
while
a
red-hot
needle
is
forced
through
the
squealing
animal's
nose.
A
rope
is
then
shoved
into
the
piercing,
which
usually
becomes
infected.
The
wounds
never
heal
and
often
become
infested
with
maggots.
When
the
ropes
attached
to
the
traumatized
bears
are
tugged,
the
animals
lift
their
legs
and
"dance".
Male
cubs
are
castrated
with
a
razor
at
a
very
young
age,
also
without
anesthesia
or
antibiotics.
The
animals'
canine
teeth
are
also
knocked
out
with
a
metal
rod
when
they
are
1
year
old.
Bears
are
trained
through
a
regime
of
pain
and
starvation,
and
they
rarely
survive
more
than
eight
years
-
a
third
of
their
natural
life
expectancy.
"Bears
are
forced
to
'dance' through
a
regimen
of
pain
and
suffering",
says
Yana.
"Do
not
patronize
animal
acts."
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