New
Delhi -- Describing himself as "greatly saddened"
by the well-documented torture of the millions
of Indian cattle now killed for meat and leather
exports, actor Jackie Chan, Hong Kong's "Ambassador
for Tourism", is urging Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee to fight the widespread corruption
and illegal practices that permeate the cruel
transport and slaughter of cattle in India-animals
whose skin and flesh end up for sale in Asia,
the United States, Europe and throughout the world.
The letter is timed to persuade government ministers,
who are meeting in Delhi to discuss the cattle
cruelty issue in early September, to make a firm
action plan to stop overcrowding and suffering
during transport, especially of cows smuggled
out of Tamil Nadu into Kerala and Karnataka.
Referring to cattle allowed to suffocate in hot,
overcrowded lorries and stabbed by children on
filthy abattoir floors, Chan writes in a letter
to the prime minister, "I am especially alarmed
that such abuses, while illegal under India's
stringent animal welfare laws, continue in this
wonderful land where reverence for life is a matter
of national pride". Chan's letter was penned
after he watched a video appeal from former Baywatch
star Pamela Anderson, a spokesperson for People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In
1998, Chan was so moved by the suffering of dogs
in Taiwan's pounds that he lent his voice to help
PETA persuade the R.O.C. government to pass its
very first cruelty to animals act.
Chan, a native of Hong Kong, is the first Asian
actor to speak up for India's cows. He joins Sir
Paul McCartney and Steven Seagal, as well as religious
figures from all over the world, in calling for
immediate action to stop abuses exposed by PETA
during an undercover investigation. The animal
rights organisation witnessed the bribing of guards,
who allowed skin-traders to smuggle cattle across
state borders, and documented the suffering of
exhausted and injured cattle who are transported
in the dead of night. The cows, bullocks and calves,
racked with pain and filled with fear, are sent
to slaughter in overcrowded lorries, enduring
the long journey without food or water. When animals
collapse, they are savagely beaten, have chili
peppers rubbed into their eyes and have their
tails broken at each joint. Many do not make it
to the abattoirs alive. Those who do are often
abandoned to cook alive in abattoirs such as those
run by the municipal governments in Mumbai and
Calcutta.
While the Constitution of India prohibits cruelty
to cattle, every cattle protection law is violated
daily, as the government simply looks the other
way. The Indian minister for railways has refused
to take action, and the prime minister has so
far only written a letter to state governors (which
they have ignored). PETA are threatening to escalate
their campaign if cattle suffering continues unabated.
"Will you please act right away by using
the power of your great office to ensure that
federal, state and municipal authorities treat
these crimes as a matter of priority and enforce
the laws?" Chan asks the prime minister.
Chan's letter to Vajpayee follows. Photographs
and videotape from PETA's investigation are available
upon request and at www.PetaIndia.com.
August 18, 2000
His Excellency, the Prime Minister
Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
New Delhi, India
Your
Excellency,
I have been contacted by the international animal
advocacy People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PETA) regarding the treatment of
Indian cattle killed for meat and leather exports.
I was greatly saddened to learn of the pain and
suffering endured by cattle during their transport
and slaughter, I am especially alarmed that such
abuses, while illegal under India's stringent
animal welfare laws, continues in this wonderful
land where reverence for life is a matter of national
pride.
Will you please act right away by using the power
of your great office to ensure that federal state
and municipal authorities treat crimes as a matter
of priority and enforce the laws?
With best wishes,
Jackie Chan