Ten-year-old Nirvaan Agarwal has attended county commissioner meetings to advocate for animals held in a roadside zoo, volunteered to help animals in sanctuaries, and hit the streets to protest against the meat industry. Now his determination and ingenuity have won him top honors in PETA Kids’ 2022 All-Star for Animals Contest.
A vegan since birth, Nirvaan seizes every opportunity to help animals, from sharing his message through a bullhorn during marches to decrying the cruel treatment of animals in the fur and leather industries, chalking animal rights messages onto sidewalks, and distributing PETA Kids comic books to his peers. After flooding from Hurricane Ida affected the Johnson Park Zoo, he attended Middlesex County Board of Commissioners meetings and presented his own research about why the animals there should be moved to reputable sanctuaries—and his efforts paid off for the red fox, raccoon, pythons, and other animals the county plans to place in new facilities. A guardian to three adopted cats, Nirvaan also enjoys building cat castles and plans to become a vegan chef.
“Whether he’s marching in vegan rallies or urging county leaders to help animals languishing in a roadside zoo, Nirvaan is setting a heroic example for young people everywhere,” says PETA Senior Director of Youth Programs Marta Holmberg. “Animals have an ally in Nirvaan, and PETA Kids is delighted to honor him for leading us all toward a kinder future.”
In addition to a year’s supply of vegan cookies from San Diego–based Maya’s Cookies, Nirvaan will receive a personalized bullhorn, an assortment of merchandise from PETA Kids, and yearlong bragging rights. See the full contest details here.
PETA Kids—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAKids.com or follow the group on Facebook or Instagram.
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