Paul McCartney and Pamela Anderson Once Urged Indian Officials to Release an Elephant Injured in Captivity
Paul McCartney and Pamela Anderson don’t have much in common except that they have had their own interesting battles in animal rights activism. They’ve both worked for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) but have campaigned in their own way. Although, they put their brains together once.
Paul McCartney and Pamela Anderson have campaigned for PETA in their own ways
The ex-Beatle and the Baywatch actor have tread very different paths in terms of activism.
In 2009, the CNN Airport Network refused to play a video of Anderson stripping to raise awareness for PETA. In 2010, Anderson posed for another controversial PETA ad wearing a bikini. Canada banned the vegetarian campaign claiming it was sexist.
“In a city that is known for its exotic dancing and for being progressive and edgy, how sad that a woman would be banned from using her own body in a political protest over the suffering of cows and chickens,” Anderson said in a statement released to Us Magazine.
“In some parts of the world, women are forced to cover their whole bodies with burqas — is that next? I didn’t think that Canada would be so puritanical.” In 2014, Anderson also stripped for the camera for a racy Valentine’s Day-themed ad for PETA.
Meanwhile, Paul, a long-time vegetarian, has taken another approach with PETA. He narrated their video “Glass Walls,” which examined slaughterhouses. He’s also done much more work for the organization, just not as controversial as Anderson’s.
Paul and Anderson urged Indian officials to release an injured elephant in captivity
After PETA exposed the living conditions of an injured elephant named Sunder in 2012, Paul and Anderson jumped into action.
According to Express, PETA claimed the elephant had been kept chained in the dark for seven years at the Jyotiba Temple in Maharashtra. Both Paul and Anderson sent letters to Indian officials urging them to help free Sunder.
Then, they received the news. Officials planned to move the elephant to a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center near Bangalore. This decision was made after the country’s Forestry Minister, Dr. Patangrao Shripatrao Kadam, intervened.
However, the process was slow. When a fan asked Anderson for an update on Facebook, the actor replied, “Poor beautiful Sunder – it’s progressing – but not fast enough. A lot of politics. PETA has lawyers – undercover footage – it’s a desperate situation. Heart Breaking (sic).”
They had to move Sunder before monsoon season. It took two years for him to arrive in the sanctuary.
A PETA spokeswoman said (per Contact Music), “Despite every obstacle thrown in his path, this abused young elephant will now be on his way to safety. Sunder has known only cruelty, misery and neglect.
“By upholding the Bombay High Court order, India’s Supreme Court has made clear that cruelty to elephants, even in the name of religion, will no longer be tolerated. We are grateful to the Indian judiciary for giving Sunder the opportunity to be rescued.”
The ex-Beatle awarded Anderson with a PETA award in his wife’s honor
In 1999, Paul awarded Anderson the first Linda McCartney Memorial Award at PETA’s Party of the Century and Humanitarian Awards. The award honors Paul’s late wife, Linda.
MTV reported that they honored Anderson because she posed for the organization’s first-ever billboard in New York’s Times Square in the “Give Fur the Cold Shoulder” campaign. Paul also performed during the event and continues to today.
Let’s hope Paul and Anderson continue doing great work with PETA, freeing one wrongfully imprisoned, injured elephant at a time.
