CHENNAI: She can easily be mistaken for a twelve-year-old, with her spectacled eyes and constant wide grin. But as she starts explaining what she does as the Online Marketing Manager for PETA, her passion to help animals and some of the work she has done, it is enough to make you feel guilty for having eaten that humungous chicken burger for dinner. Having grown up in a household that deeply respected and cared for animals, Kriti Sachdeva’s love for animals is innate. She says, “My whole family is vegetarian and I’m vegan. I’ve grown up seeing people reporting cruelty to animals and helping animals in distress.” Starting work with PETA after finishing her Masters in Human Rights, Kriti has been hard at work on various online campaigns that help boost PETA’a on ground initiatives for the past year-and-a-half. She explains, “Our social media pages give us a platform to reach tens of thousands of our supporters at one go. ”When the 24-year-old and her team first sent a letter to the Ministry of Environment and Forests to pass the new draft of the Animal Welfare Act, 2011, (which is aimed at increasing the penalties for animal cruelty) they put up an online petition that allowed supporters of the cause to email the ministries directly.Though PETA’a online streams receive the support that they hope for, Kriti wishes that people supported more specific causes. “We would love for people to help us build pressure on five star hotels which serve foie gras, a product made from the livers of ducks and geese that have been cruelly force-fed,” she informs. She considers PETA’s undercover video expose one of her biggest successes so far. The video, called Glass Walls, shows goats used for meat being killed in full view of their companions. It also shows the dairy industry sending male calves to slaughter or letting them die while humans take the milk meant for them. Some other issues showcased included fish often being sliced open while still gasping for breath, and chickens beaks being sliced off before they are put in cages for eggs. “Many people have remarked that they have gone vegan after watching the video,” she beams. Kriti, who was recently in the city to give her talk on innovative animal activism at the Social Media Summit, 2011, is also not only a virtual hero. At her home, they have two rescued cats, Soya and Novu and a rescued dog Mr Mehboob at the PETA office. “My cats behave like a married couple,” she grins. Kriti urges people to call on 9820122602 in case they see any animals in distress.
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