Rakhi Sawant may be known for her loud antics and controversies, but the item girl is much more than that. The judge of ‘Rakhi Ka Insaaf’, has stripped down to tiger stripes for a new anti-circus ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India. Rakhi brandishes a whip as two men cower before her while the caption reads, ‘Beaten. Tortured. Scared. Exotic Animals Belong in the Wild, Not in the Circus’ in the ad.
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The former Bigg Boss contestant says, “Animals in circuses are beaten and denied everything that is important to them for their whole lifetime – all for a few cheap tricks. My plea to parents is that if your kids love animals, the last place you should take them is the circus.”
Animals in circuses are confined continuously and are subject to physical and psychological abuse. The animals are beaten and whipped to be trained and are often crammed in dirty cages. Even the animals’ access to water, food and veterinary care is often severely restricted. Even though the government has banned the use of bears, monkeys, tigers, panthers and lions in performances, some of these animals continue to be used in acts.
Rakhi Sawant’s body paint is courtesy Al Alva, and photograph by Colston Julian.
