With strict COVID-19 lockdowns now a memory in people’s minds, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India is launching an ad blitz on billboards near bird markets in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Mumbai, pointing out that caged birds endure a lifetime in lockdown and urging people to help break the bars by never buying birds from markets or pet shops.The billboard in Delhi is located at Rajouri Garden Market, facing towards the Punjabi Bagh Club and Sanjay Gandhi Animal Center.
“Without hope that their lockdown will end, many captive birds tear out their feathers, cry out, and even collapse from anxiety,” says PETA India Senior Campaigns Coordinator Radhika Suryavanshi. “PETA India is asking people to see birds not as decorative objects but as individuals with their own needs.”
Birds in nature are free to fly as far as they wish and to engage in social activities such as taking sand baths, playing hide-and-seek, dancing, building nests with their mates, and nurturing their young. But those kept in cages without stimulation or room to spread their wings can become depressed and withdrawn and often over-preen themselves to the point of mutilation. Some people even have birds’ wings clipped so that they’re unable to fly away.
