Written by PETA
Be proud, California: Thanks to your meat and dairy industries' "Happy Cows," you're number one … on the EPA's "fart chart." And you thought the Golden State was known only for its Hollywood beauties and killer vegan food.
Rounding out the top five in the bovine emissions sweepstakes are Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota.
Animals raised for food fart and burp massive quantities of greenhouse gasses—so much so that they're a leading contributor to climate change. The EPA estimates that the nation's 170 million bovines, sheep, and pigs are responsible for one-quarter of the methane released in the U.S. each year.
Check out the "fart chart" to see how your state ranks. Then tell everyone you know what they can do to lower their emissions.
Written by Paula Moore
P.S. We're not going to raise a stink about the fact that the "fart chart" should really be called the "Burp-O-Meter."
What will it take to make California stop misleading consumers about its unhappy cows? Last fall, we filed a complaint against the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) for alleged false advertising, asking the Federal Trade Commission to make the CMAB end its misleading campaign, and big names like John Robbins and Ginnifer Goodwin have shown cows big love by writing to the FTC in support of our complaint. Now, PETA's latest move in the pursuit of happiness for California's cows is sure to turn heads in the state's capital:
Cows on dairy factory farms are not given much more than the numbered ear tag that's used to identify them. PETA's undercover investigation inside Land O'Lakes supplier Reitz Dairy revealed deplorable, filthy conditions for cows on the Pennsylvania farm, such as pens that were filled with deep excrement and cows who collapsed, becoming "downers," but who were not given veterinary care or put out of their misery. Yet when this information was presented in a court of law, the judge found the owners not guilty after testimony that our heartbreaking photos and video footage showed "standard practices" for the dairy industry.
Drugged, over-milked, and kept in filthy, crowded lots, the typical California cow is anything but happy. Instead of encouraging CMAB to continue misleading consumers, take a minute to contact the FTC and then save a cow by downing a tall glass of soy milk.
Written by Logan Scherer
The latest animal-friendly news from California makes me want to shout the state's motto and make the big move ASAP.
First, the California Assembly overwhelmingly passed a law that would require that all fur products be labeled with the type of animal (or faux fabric) and the country of origin. This would close a loophole in federal law that allows clothing with less than $150 worth of fur to be sold without any label identifying it as real fur, and it will stop many people from mistakenly buying real fur when they intended to buy faux.
The fur labeling bill is now headed to the State Senate, so if you have the good fortune to live in California, please urge your state senators to vote for it.
And that's not all! If you live in San Francisco, get ready to celebrate the city's first Meat-Free Monday, aka "Veg Day." San Francisco's Board of super-savvy Supervisors approved a resolution that calls on the city's restaurants, grocery stores, and schools to recognize the health and environmental benefits of meat-free meals. A plant-based diet also saves animals from the horrors of factory farming and slaughter.
For all you non-Californians, encourage your state and local politicians to follow California's example and make a commitment to helping animals, the planet, and their constituents' health. In the meantime, you can celebrate your own cruelty-free closet and table every day of the week.
California, here I come!
Written by Heather Faraid Drennan
Can the third wife of a polygamist ever be happy? According to HBO's Big Love, it depends on the episode.
But the ravishing Ginnifer Goodwin, who plays Margene on the acclaimed series and who is radiantly vegan in real life, knows that there's no happiness to be found for the drugged-up, distressed cows who are treated as nothing more than milk machines in dairy factories.
That's why she wrote to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urging them to rule in favor of PETA's complaint alleging deceptive practices by the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) in its "Happy Cow" ad campaign.
"In show business, we often have good reason for making people believe things that aren't true, but there is no excuse for the CMAB's misrepresentation of the milk industry," writes Goodwin. "[C]onsumers deserve better than to be fed cheerful lies about 'happy cows.'"
Like Ginnifer, millions of caring people have seen through the milk industry's deceptions and decided to dump dairy.
Will you?
Written by Karin Bennett
I was already stoked about PETA's Marketing Department's upcoming move to Los Angeles, but after watching this exclusive footage of PETA peeps at Cruzer Pizza—the city's all-vegan pizzeria—I'm ready to get on the next flight and finish the construction of our new office myself. Check out the epic culinary journey of Royale, our Twitterer and veganista extraordinaire, and Lauren, our celebrity marketing coordinator, who went behind the scenes to help choose the ingredients in Cruzer's new "PETA" pizza.
Free of cholesterol, trans fat, and cruelty, the vegan pizza at Cruzer has 33 percent less fat than do pizzas made with dairy ingredients. And the only torment involved is that it makes those of us here on the East Coast salivate. So if you're in the area, stop by Cruzer Pizza and make sure to order the PETA (a portion of the proceeds is donated to us)!
Fact: Violence against animals often leads to violence against humans. Conclusion? Require felony animal abusers to be placed on a public registry.
Sex offenders and arsonists are already required to be on registries, and soon California will consider a recently proposed bill that would require the same of animal abusers. By making residents aware of animal-abuse offenders in their community, California legislators would protect both animals and their human constituents.
California banned the use of gestation crates, battery cages, and veal crates when Prop 2 was passed. Then the state put an end to tail-docking of cows. West Hollywood recently banned the sale of dogs and cats at puppy mills, and PETA is opening up a new office in Los Angeles. Conclusion? If the Golden State passes this new bill (and stops abusing its unhappy cows), I will declare it the best state ever.
A couple of months ago, we filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urging it to make the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) stop misleading consumers about the way cows on dairy farms are treated. Now, John Robbins—son of the founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire and the Pulitzer Prize–nominated author of Food Revolution—has written a letter to the FTC in support of our complaint.
"As the only son of the founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire, I was groomed from an early age to take over the family business. However, once I became aware of the tremendous suffering of cows on dairy farms, the suffering of their calves, and the devastating impact that dairy production has on the environment, I instead committed myself to working for a more compassionate and environmentally responsible world," writes Robbins, whose decision to put his father's legacy to a compassionate cause has inspired many to ditch the pus for good.
Cows in the dairy industry do not typically wander along in green pastures like the Happy Cows ads would have consumers believe. The reality for cows who are forced to produce milk for human consumption is that most are crammed into huge sheds, where they wallow in mud and feces. They are forcefully impregnated again and again only to have their babies ripped away from them shortly after birth so that their milk—which is meant for their children—can be sold in supermarkets.
Tons of people have already taken action to help cows suffering on dairy farms—won't you do the same?
Thank you soy much!
Newsflash: Cows on dairy farms aren't happy. In fact, they are quite the opposite.
So how is it that the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) can continue to claim that the "best" cheese comes from California's supposedly ecstatic cows?
You know the ads—the one with a handful of free-roaming, robust cows cavorting sassily under a cheerful California sky? Apparently we're expected to believe that all cows used on dairy farms in California look like this …
… as opposed to this:
In the past, we've had some choice words on the subject of California's supposedly happy cows. In 2002, PETA filed suit against the CMAB for false advertising—but the California Supreme Court refused to hear the case on the grounds that as a government agency, the CMAB can’t be sued for violating California state advertising laws.*
But we kept fighting the good fight against the CMAB's false advertising with a series of "Unhappy Cow" demonstrations and public service announcements, including a few starring the man himself, animal crusader James Cromwell. And now, on the heels of our most recent undercover investigation inside a dairy farm, the time has come to return to the trenches.
We're filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, calling on it to make the CMAB stop lying to consumers about the way cows on dairy farms are treated. "Happy cow" ads mislead consumers into believing that California dairy cows are pasture raised, free roaming, and grass fed and live in conditions that make them "happy" (i.e., that they are well cared for, content, comfortable, and healthy). In reality, these cows are drugged up, over-milked, and denied even the most basic care. Doesn't sound like a "happy cow" to me.
Written by Amanda Schinke
*Let's put aside how alarming one might find the idea of a government not subject to regulation.
Purrrrr. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to make disabling declawing cats illegal, and other California cities are set to vote on similar measures this week.
Painful and traumatic, declawing is really 10 separate amputations in which the last joint of every single toe gets cut off along with the nail. Declawing a cat is the equivalent of cutting a person's fingers off at the first knuckle and leads to gradual weakening of cats' legs, shoulders, and back muscles. Declawed cats are more likely to have behavior "problems" such as avoiding the litterbox and biting, and they are commonly surrendered to shelters by frustrated guardians.
Germany and other parts of Europe have outlawed declawing as a form of cruelty, and many conscientious veterinarians in the U.S. refuse to declaw because they realize that all someone needs to do to save their furniture (or whatever other lame excuse people come up with to justify mangling their kitties) is take the time to simply trim their cats' nails and buy proper scratching posts.
The Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, and Berkeley city councils will be considering or voting on declawing bans this week, so please tell anyone you know in these cities to send an urgent e-mail to their councilmembers today.
Written by Heather Drennan (with help from Wellington)
"California cows can keep their tails."
That sentence in the Central Valley Business Times says it all. California state proved it was full of animal-friendly folk when Prop. 2 passed last year, and now lawmakers in the state have just signed a law that will make the docking of cows' tails illegal starting this January!
During our recent undercover investigation on a Pennsylvania factory farm, our investigator witnessed tail-docking on a number of occasions. The tails of cows were removed by "banding"—which means that circulation to the tail was cut off using an elastic band, which caused the cows' tails to slowly lose blood flow and die. Once the tail is necrotic and lifeless, it is snapped off by a farm worker. Tails act as natural flyswatters for cows, who have no other way to chase off insects or stop them from biting. Once the cows on this farm had their tails removed, they still tried in vain to rid their bodies of flies, who were rampant in the manure-slicked barn.
Tail-docking is just one of the many horrendous abuses inflicted on animals on factory farms and is a practice that even the notoriously hypocritical AVMA opposes.
Cheers to the California legislature for taking this important step.
Written by Jeff Mackey
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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