Pro-vegan event held at Chandigarh's Sector 17

Ria Nag

Chandigarh, June 28

Ahead of World UFO Day on July 2, the PETA India and the Aashray Foundation jointly organised a pro-vegan demonstration at Sector 17 Plaza today.

The event featured three volunteers dressed as aliens, appearing to feast on a mock “dead human” laid out on a table under a banner asking, “What if Aliens Treated Us the Way We Treat Animals? Go Vegan!”

Shane Bakshi, Director, Aashray Foundation, said: “Our aim is to cultivate empathy towards voiceless creatures and promote a healthier lifestyle. Our foundation has initiated efforts against animal cruelty and this event is a step in the same direction. We advocate for veganism and encourage as many people as possible to make the switch. Beyond ethical considerations, we can save ourselves from a variety of health complications such as heart problems and even cancer to some extent, by choosing to go vegan.”

Utkarsh Garg, campaign coordinator at PETA India, highlighted the societal desensitisation towards animal suffering. “We’ve grown so desensitised to animals being butchered that when we see a truck laden with caged animals headed for slaughter, we hardly give it a second thought. If aliens ever visit Earth, we’d all better hope they don’t cage us, kill us and chop our bodies the way humans do to other species. By making small lifestyle changes like altering what food we eat or what products we buy, say leather for example, we can spare animals of the torture and be kinder humans,” he said.