In a new ad for petaDishoom, the youth division of PETA India, model and actor Yana Gupta appears next to the tagline "Bears Are Not Item Numbers" in a Black outfit created by Bollywood designer Rocky S. Shot by ace photographer Atul Kasbekar, the ad is part of the group's continuing campaign to raise the awareness of the cruelty that bears which are used for entertainment must endure.

What is it that has Yana and others so angry?

While "dancing" bears are an all too common sight in India. The realities of their situation are horrifically tragic. Bears are trained through a regime of pain and starvation, and they rarely survive more than eight years – a third of their natural life expectancy.

When a cub is just 1 year old, their canine teeth are knocked out with a metal rod and a rope is forced through their noses while the are fully concious and without any form of painkillers. To achieve this, a group of people forcefully pen the cub down while a red-hot needle is forced through the squealing and shrieking animal's nose. At which point a rope is then shoved into and drawn through the fresh raw piercing, which usually becomes infected. The wounds never heal and often become infested with maggots.

When the ropes attached to the traumatized bears are tugged, the animals lift their forelegs and "dance".

Male cubs are castrated with a razor at a very young age, also without anaesthesia or antibiotics.

"Bears are forced to 'dance' through a regimen of pain and suffering", says Yana. "Do not patronize animal acts."