The Unholy Abuse of India's Cows

Six years after a PETA investigation into the Indian leather industry prompted the Indian government to promise to make improvements in the transport and slaughter conditions endured by the cows and other animals who are killed for leather, PETA investigators have found virtually no improvements in the treatment of these animals.

Sacred No More

Cows and other animals are still being crammed into extremely crowded trucks for the long journey to slaughter. Many are trampled or gouged by the horns of other animals. Upon arrival at the slaughterhouse, animals are dragged off of the trucks, sometimes falling several feet to the ground. Their throats are cut open—often with dirty, blunt knives and in full view of one another—on floors that are slick with feces, blood, internal organs, and urine. Some animals are even skinned and dismembered while they are still conscious.

Broken Promises

India's minimal animal protection laws regarding transport and slaughter are blatantly ignored, and the Indian Council for Leather Exports refuses to take any action to prevent the sale of skins from unlicensed, illegal slaughterhouses. Even though it is required by law to do so, the Indian government has failed to form enough branches of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to enforce laws governing the transport and slaughter of animals. In 2004, the Indian Supreme Court directed the government Animal Welfare Board of India to set up an inspection plan for slaughterhouses throughout the country, but, to date, it has failed to do so. PETA India is currently taking Indian national and state governments to court for their failure to enforce animal protection laws.

Please click here to e-mail the Indian Ambassador and ask him to take action on this issue.