A US-based Hindu group has supported Hollywood diva Pamela Anderson's reported demand of "humane" research methods in India's prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) on Friday, stressed that Hinduism showed respect towards animals and any form of cruelty to animals was not acceptable.

Anderson wants AIIMS to retire the aging monkeys of its animal facility. In a letter to AIIMS director Professor R.C. Deka, she asked him to send these monkeys to a sanctuary and switch to modern and humane non-animal research and training methods.

She pointed out that many of these monkeys had been languishing in cramped and rusty cages for up to 20 years. She also enclosed secretly taped video footage of the facility.

"It broke my heart to see the suffering", Anderson wrote.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that AIIMS should reevaluate its research policies and procedures involving animals and come up with humane solutions.

Thrice divorced/annulled MTV nominated Pamela Anderson (Baywatch), 43, is a Canadian-American actress-model-author- producer-former Playboy Playmate. She is vegetarian and an animal rights activist. She participated in India's popular and controversial daily television reality show "Bigg Boss" near Mumbai (India) in November last in a three-day cameo appearance.

Established in 1956 by an Act of Indian Parliament to "serve as a nucleus for nurturing excellence in all aspect of health care", AIIMS is an institution of national importance.