Indore Residents are Finalist in PETA's 'Cutest Vegetarian Next Door' Contest
Vaibhav Upadhyay [email protected]
Ayush Asija [email protected]
Garima Sharma [email protected]
Kunjana Sharma [email protected]
Shambhavi Tiwari [email protected]
Kicking the Meat Habit Has Made 10 Men and 10 Women Sizzle With Passion – and Compassion
Indore – As People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India's 2016 Cutest Vegetarian Next Door contest heats up, Vaibhav Upadhyay, Ayush Asija, Garima Sharma, or Kunjana Sharma – all of whom are from Indore, Madhya Pradesh – may just take home the prize. They've beaten out hundreds of other contestants from across India to be among the 20 finalists to advance to the last round. PETA will ultimately crown two winners, one man and one woman, the 2016 Cutest Vegetarians Next Door – and members of the public can help it choose by voting for their favourite finalists on PETA's website.
"On average, vegetarians are slimmer and healthier than meat-eaters – and over their lifetime, they spare many animals the horrors of factory farms, slaughterhouses, and fishing nets", says PETA nutritionist Bhuvaneshwari Gupta. "One look at our radiant finalists confirms that there's nothing more attractive than compassion."
"I am a vegetarian from birth. My entire family is vegetarian. We believe the beauty of nature lies in the animals and plants", Upadhyay explains. "I strongly oppose harming and killing of animals and ask every single person I meet to turn into vegetarian."
"Reason of being vegetarian is love towards the creations of god, i.e., animals", says Asija. "I can't see them hurt so there is no question of having them as a meal."
"Every living thing in the universe [has] a soul and we have no right to take it", Garima Sharma says.
"It's been more than 20 years now [since] I have stopped eating non veg because of the animals' innocence … especially when you see into their eyes", says Kunjana Sharma. "Animals have feelings too and they feel pain when we kill them for our food."
In addition to causing animal suffering on a massive scale, eating meat and dairy foods has been conclusively linked to heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer, and obesity. Also, a United Nations report concluded that animal agriculture is "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global".
Voting will be open to the public until 28 October, and the winners will be announced on 2 November.
For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com. To see all the finalists' photos and comments – and vote for your favourites – please click here. PETA will select the winners based on several factors, including vote count. Read the full contest details here.