Wearing huge angel wings which span nearly four meters and standing next to the tagline "Be an Angel for Birds: Don't Cage Them ", model-turned-actor and staunch animal advocate John Abraham stars in a brand-new ad for petaDishoom, the youth arm of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India. The ad is a still-shot taken from a video from Pakistani pop sensation Strings' long-awaited release "Koi Aanay Wala Hai", in which Abraham plays a winged angel.

The new ad is titled, "Be an Angel for Birds", but petaDishoom wants Abraham and Strings' legions of fans to come up with their own original titles. So the five petaDishoom.com visitors who enter the contest will each win a copy of Strings' new CD album – autographed by the band!

Famous for their top-selling singles "Yeh Hai Meri Kahaani"– the song from the hit movie Zinda – and “Dhaani” & "Sar Key Yeh Pahar", Strings' composer-guitarist Bilal Maqsood and lead singer Faisal Kapadia took time out of their busy schedule to do an exclusive interview with petaDishoom. After talking about their careers and favourite foods and places, both agreed on the importance of protecting animals' wild habitats. "[T]heir eco systems are important to preserving the biodiversity of planet Earth, and they have as much a right to life as we do", says Faisal. The guys also spoke out against the illegal trafficking of wild animals and animal parts. "[The] trade [of banned animal products] is as much due to myth as it is due to ignorance", says Bilal. "Education would be the best way to stop such illegal trading."

Why do Abraham, Strings and petaDishoom want all birds to fly free? Caged birds suffer their entire lives. Both hand-raised and wild-caught birds often become neurotic, pulling out feathers and mutilating themselves, sometimes to the point of death. When ready to breed, many species naturally pluck some feathers to prepare for nest-building and egg-sitting, but when humans interfere with their natural behaviours and disrupt biological and instinctual cycles by confining birds in cages, plucking becomes a destructive compulsion.

Unfortunately, too many people regard birds simply as colourful pets and don't appreciate that birds are intelligent, social animals who feel pain and fear. They are captured by poachers, packed into small boxes and transported on trains. An estimated 60 per cent of them die in transit, usually from broken wings and legs, thirst, hunger and stress. Baby birds are caught in traps and nets, which often results in injury or death.

This isn't the first time that Abraham has teamed up with PETA to speak up for animals. He signed PETA's petition to ban elephants from urban areas, wrote to the Goan government urging it to take action to stop the cruel and illegal backyard slaughter of pigs, and recently co-hosted PETA's eighth birthday bash. In 2005, Abraham shot another ad calling for birds to be free in which he appeared shirtless, holding an empty cage as several birds flew skyward to their freedom.

"When John Abraham speaks up for animals, young people across India listen", says PETA's Simran Kodesia. "His close association with PETA means that the message of compassion for birds and all other animals – that they should never be abused or robbed of their precious freedom – will reach more people than ever before."

To see the ad, read the entire interview and register to win a free Strings CD, please visit petaDishoom.com.

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PETA India focuses primarily on the areas in which the greatest numbers of animals suffer the most: in the food and leather industries, laboratories and the entertainment industry. PETA India’s investigative work, public education efforts, research, animal rescues, legislative work, special events, celebrity involvement and national media coverage have resulted in countless improvements to the quality of life for animals and have saved countless animals’ lives.