‘Cows deserve protection’: PETA responds to Raksha Bandhan campaign outrage

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Wednesday received massive backlash for their Raksha Bandhan campaign asking people to celebrate a 'leather-free' Raksha Bandhan. The citizens in Gujarat were baffled after they saw massive billboards from PETA India asking people to give up the use of leather this Raksha Bandhan in a bid to protect cows. Netizens took to Twitter to ask PETA where exactly they felt leather was used in the festival of Raksha Bandhan slamming them for their ill-timed and unrelated campaign for cow protection.  

Netizens baffled

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'Message was to protect cows like our sisters' 

Responding to the outrage, PETA India issued a statement saying that their message had been taken in the wrong sense and that they were advocating for the protection of cows on a day when brothers vowed to protect their sisters, "We didn’t say rakhis are made of leather. We said Raksha Bandhan is a good day to extend protection to cows who are our sisters under the skin by taking a pledge to go leather-free, for life. That’s a message all kind people can get behind." 

Earlier PETA had faced a massive backlash for their campaign urging people to turn vegan and stop goat slaughter on Bakri Eid. After an official complaint with the Lucknow police, the billboard was taken down for 'hurting religious sentiments'. 

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