Turning Ideology Into Practice
What’s missing when “animal lovers” go to zoos, swim with captive dolphins, or support other animal-exploiting attractions and industries? Empathy, respect, and awareness.
Author Varda Mehrotra, FIAPO
Varda Mehrotra, FIAPO
FIAPO is India's apex animal rights organization. As the collective voice of the animal rights movement in India, FIAPO is the catalyst that protects the interests and rights of animals on local and national levels - through education, research, lobbying, mobilization, networking, training and direct action. Created for the movement, by the movement, FIAPO is India’s only national federation. It has over 80 members and over 200 supporter organizations across the country. Click to see author's profile.
Wild to Captivity: The Inherent Rights of Elephants
A prominent Indian activist writes about the complexities of elephant captivity in India.
What Every Young Activist Must Know
When we start off as young activists, we are often driven more by passion than by planning. But an effective activist takes more than just passion and guts.
Activist Burnout is Real
Just as we do the best with what we have in our work, we must also do the best to maintain our personal lives, our social support groups, our hobbies and our self-care rituals. We must replenish ourselves so we can bring the best of ourselves to this movement.
Campaign Improves Conditions for over 70,000 Birds in Single Indian City
FIAPO reports on a multipart campaign to improve conditions for chickens held in illegal slaughterhouses in the city of Mangalore. Though the changes are only a first step, the relief for the birds has been significant.
India’s Tigers in Crisis
Tigers in India have been under threat for hundreds of years, and by the year 1971, their population had dropped to 1800. Though hunting tigers is outlawed today, they continue to be threatened by human activities, such as habitat encroachment, illegal poaching, and government-sanctioned killing of tigers deemed to be “man-eaters.”
Declaration of the Rights of Elephants: A Call for Elephant Personhood in India
The Declaration of Rights recognizes that elephants cannot be paraded in temples, or forced to beg on the streets, or kept enslaved, not just because it’s cruel, but because it compromises their basic rights. Sign today to help achieve a rightful and dignified life for elephants in India!
India’s Animal Welfare community displays its strength, stops mass livestock export
With over 2000 petitions in a day, hundreds of phone calls to the chief minister’s office, and several protests to stop these ‘flights of slaughter,’ we have showcased our strength and ability to work together as a cohesive community for the protection of animals in India.
Good Laws, Bad Implementation: The State of Animal Protection in India
The law alone is not enough to stop violence against animals. Improving how animals are treated requires a shift in the way we campaign.
FIAPO calls for legal animal personhood in India
Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO) has taken a bold step forward: demanding legal personhood for the Asian Elephant on grounds of their intrinsic value and dignity.
The Intersectionality of Women’s and Animal Rights
It is not hard to identify similarities between women’s rights issues and animal rights issues. FIAPO believes that the end of sexist objectification, and recognition of equality of women, logically extends to animals too.
How India’s Union Budget fails to address animal rights
For all the commotion surrounding India’s 2018 budget, animals are entirely absent from the conversation. This serves as a stark reminder of how insignificant their sentience is in the Indian government’s decision making on economic growth and reform.