The shutting down of illegal slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh was applauded, cheered, hailed and tweeted by many, but what about the organisation which tried the most to shut down illegal slaughterhouses in India?
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Yes, it is the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) — the largest animal right organisation in the world and their age-old crusade against torture of animals in the food industry.
It's been quite a while since Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath gave direction to police officials to prepare an action plan for closure of slaughterhouses across the state, which came into effect immediately. Did PETA, which had raised its voice during the protest against the banning of Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu, overlook the matter?
Even on Tuesday (March 28), when the BJP government ordered a ban on the illegal slaughterhouses in Jharkhand, PETA did not make any comment in support of the government's decision.
Here's how the social media reacted
Many took to Twitter to question PETA's obliviousness towards the shutting down of the illegalslaughter houses which should have otherwise been counted as a landmark feat by it.
Deafening silence of @PetaIndia / @peta w.r.t illegal meat shop shutdowns in UP.
— Anon desi (@AnonDesi) March 24, 2017
Shouldn’t they be celebrating? ?
After UP, #Jharkhand bans illegal slaughterhouses.Not surprised that @PetaIndia seemed oblivious to this issue https://t.co/OEcZZQRNDb
— Smita Barooah (@smitabarooah) March 28, 2017
Hi @PetaIndia, you say you’re against illegal slaughterhouses. But no tweet to support @myogiadityanath’s move? @rahulroushan @ShefVaidya pic.twitter.com/Ca1ClB7S0R
— Nityanand Misra (@MisraNityanand) March 26, 2017
How did @PetaIndia which campaigned against Jallikattu bull race miss thousands of illegal slaughter houses in India, UP tip of iceberg
— Sandhya Jain (@vijayvaani) March 28, 2017
Where is @peta & @PetaIndia on the shutting of illegal abattoirs in UP? @SandipGhose @ndtv @cnni @News18India @CNNnews18 @timesofindia
— Reshmi Dasgupta (@ReshmiDG) March 26, 2017
But PETA has congratulated the UP govt though it did not get much publicity
International Business Times, India, reached out to PETA and find out the truth and it said that it has indeed congratulated the UP government's move.
"PETA India has recently posted a letter to the UP CM congratulating him on his post and thanking him for moving against illegal slaughterhouses. We have also sent him a copy of our rescued animals calendar," Poorva Joshipura, CEO of PETA told IBT, India.
"PETA India was part of a Supreme Court's case in which all states were asked to take this action since illegal slaughterhouses are unlicensed. We commend any government move aimed at helping animals," added Joshipura.
Here's the letter that PETA had sent to the UP CM on March 24.
Had PETA's PR team managed it better by putting out the facts to the public, the slamming could have been avoided.
Meanwhile, PETA is still vying to stop the cruelty faced by animals in the food industry.
"We cannot expect the government to end killing alone and slaughter will not stop so long as both legal and illegal slaughterhouses exist anywhere else in the country. If people want to stop seeing cows and other animals get killed, they have to live a vegan lifestyle," Joshipura told IBTimes, India.
