Rights group urges Big Brother viewers to roar on Shetty 

TELEVISION viewers were yesterday being encouraged to vote for the Celebrity Big Brother contestant Shilpa Shetty by a high-profile animal-rights group, for her backing of campaign on behalf of circus animals.

The Bollywood actress posed for a campaign by the rights group PETA in which she crouched in a cage, dressed in a tiger-striped body suit, with the tagline "Beaten, Lonely and Abused - Boycott the Circus".

She is backing the group's campaign highlighting the discomfort of animals such as tigers and lions. "By no means was I comfortable during the photo-shoot crouched in that small cage," said Shetty.

"But what were a few moments of discomfort for me compared to what life must be like for the precious animals held captive in the circus?"

Previous Celebrity Big Brother contestants Dennis Rodman, Traci Bingham and Jodie Marsh have all lent their famous faces to PETA campaign ads.