INDIAN ‘COWGIRL’ TO JOIN NUDE PROTEST IN SPAIN
(30 June 2004)

Twenty-seven-year-old, London-based Indo-American Poorva Joshipura, whose parents are from Gujarat, is setting off to Spain to join an estimated 300 PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) supporters from around the world to run through the streets of Pamplona two days before the city’s annual ‘Running of the Bulls’ as part of PETA’s third annual ‘Human Race’ on 5 July 2004. Although many protesters will be wearing nothing more than red scarves and plastic bull horns, Joshipura, who will be representing India in Pamplona, will show respect for her Indian heritage by protesting fully clothed!

PETA supporters have written to the mayor of Pamplona, asking her to embrace a new tradition – the festive ‘Human Race’ – and to stop abusing bulls, who are terrified when they are forced to stampede through the city and often suffer serious injuries as they slip and fall on cobbled streets. Despite the growing Spanish disdain for bullfighting – reflected by the Barcelona City Council’s recent vote to ban this primitive bloodsport – and the thousands of complaints from all over the world that have been flooding her office, the mayor of Pamplona has not responded to PETA’s request.

The Running of the Bulls is tourist-driven, yet most visitors haven’t a clue about the cruelty that bulls are subjected to before, during and after the run. Electric-shock prods and sharp sticks are typically used to torment and frighten the bulls into a stampede. As the animals flee, they sustain bruises, cuts and broken bones. In the bullfights following the run, bulls are often intentionally debilitated with tranquilisers and beatings and have petroleum jelly rubbed in their eyes so that they are less able to resist their tormentors’ attacks. According to The New York Times, as many as 90 per cent of tourists who attend bullfights never return after witnessing the animals’ suffering.

"During PETA’s Human Race, I will wear white – the colour traditionally worn at Hindu funerals – out of respect for the bulls who will be killed in the fights that night’, says Joshipura. ‘If tourists knew how much these animals suffer for this bloody spectacle, they’d pack their bags and leave."

Joshipura has proved to be cows’ best friend. She has taken her demonstrations against the abuse of cows and other animals for leather and meat all over the world, from Washington to Paris and from Nairobi to Mumbai. Joshipura also heads a campaign to reform the Indian leather industry and has successfully rallied more than 40 retail giants worldwide – including Reebok, Gucci, Nike, Gap Inc and Kenneth Cole – to use their buying power to encourage the Indian government to crack down on the widespread abuse of animals used for leather.