Bollywood actors Zeenat Aman and Jackie Shroff Crowned PETA India’s ‘Most Beautiful Vegetarian Celebrities’ of 2023

Mumbai, 19th December 2023 (GNI): In recognition of their actions for animals, vegetarian actors Zeenat Aman and Jackie Shroff are the latest stars to win the title of Most Beautiful Vegetarian Celebrity from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India.

This year, veteran actor Aman warned fans “not to promote any online content that features captive wildlife as pets or exhibits”. She has also shared her story of fostering and then adopting a community dog named Lily, pointing out that “most stray dogs in India live a life of cruelty, hunger, and neglect”. Shroff, a well-known environmental advocate, has echoed this sentiment on social media, telling followers, “You can’t buy love but you can always rescue it!” alongside a video that features community dogs. And both have shared their love of vegetarian foods with their many fans.

“Animals like chickens and dogs find sanctuary and compassion in Zeenat Aman and Jackie Shroff,” says PETA India Vice President of Celebrity and Public Relations Sachin Bangera. “PETA India is delighted to honour these legendary stars for showing the world that kindness to animals is the most beautiful quality of all.”

In today’s meat, egg, and dairy industries, most animals are raised in vast warehouses in severe confinement. As PETA India reveals in the video exposé “Glass Walls”, chickens killed for food are often shackled upside down before their throats are slit. Cows and buffaloes are crammed into vehicles in such large numbers that their bones often break before they’re dragged off to the slaughterhouse, and pigs are stabbed in the heart as they scream. On the decks of fishing boats, fish suffocate or are cut open while they’re still alive. 

As well as being the compassionate choice, eating more plants slashes the risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity; helps fight the climate catastrophe by reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and can even prevent future pandemics. SARS, swine flu, bird flu, and COVID-19 have been linked to confining and killing animals for food.

Past winners of the title (known as the Hottest Vegetarian Celebrity Award until 2020) include John Abraham, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Rajkummar Rao, Alia Bhatt, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Shraddha Kapoor, Sonu Sood, Manushi Chhillar, Sunil Chhetri, Anushka Sharma, Kartik Aaryan, Vidyut Jammwal, Shahid Kapoor, Rekha, and Amitabh Bachchan.

PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.ends GNI