Smashing Pumpkins founder and frontman Billy Corgan is the latest star to speak out against the cruel practice of dehorning cattle. Billy is calling on California Pizza Kitchen to make the responsible and ethical decision to demand that its cheese suppliers stop this barbaric mutilation.

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Instead of using these excruciating dehorning methods, farmers can instead breed for naturally hornless, or "polled," cattle. Just as farmers select for traits such as coat color, they can select for the hornless gene. And since a single gene determines whether a cow will have horns and the polled gene is dominant over the horned gene, with selective breeding new generations of cows can be born without the gene for horns.

Several other companies have taken steps to eliminate dehorning, and Billy urges California Pizza Kitchen to follow suit. He is one of several celebrities, including Ryan Gosling and Casey Affleck, who want to see an end to this painful, and unnecessary mutilation immediately.

Billy is no stranger to raising his voice to protect animals. He's been a staunch supporter of PETA's Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign and PETA Asia's campaign to free Mali. 

What You Can Do

Please join Billy Corgan in writing to California Pizza Kitchen and urging the company to require its cheese suppliers to stop dehorning.

Big dairy better be wary. Casey Affleck and Ryan Gosling have helped us expose dairy farms' cruel practice of dehorning calves to the public, and now PETA is appealing directly to dairy distributors' shareholders.

We bought stock in several dairy companies and businesses that have dairy farms in their supply chains so that we could propose shareholder resolutions asking the companies to phase out dehorning. Last week, we attended the annual meeting for WhiteWave, which owns Horizon Organic Milk, and told the other stockholders how the companies' dairy farm workers use searing-hot irons to burn off horn tissue or sharp tools to gouge out, or cut off calves' horns and often the surrounding tissue, too, while the animals bellow and writhe in pain. Not exactly the kind of thing that stockholders want to hear. We'll be piping up at the annual meeting for Domino's and proposing a shareholder resolution asking the company to require its suppliers to phase out dehorning.

PETA is offering both companies an easy solution: breed for polled (hornless) cattle. A single gene determines whether or not a cow will have horns, and this approach has proved effective in the beef industry.

We're also offering consumers an easy way to end dehorning: Purchase only cruelty-free (nondairy) milk. Let's horn in on cruelty, shall we?

Confronted by PETA over misleading propaganda, Papa John's has amended its opposition statement to remove outright falsehoods since it's clear that calves suffer miserably when their horn buds are burnt off or developing horns are gouged out or cut off. 

What Papa John's really needs to do is to stop opposing PETA's shareholder resolution and take decisive action to stop its suppliers from dehorning cows. 

The following was originally published on February 28, 2013:

Owning stock in a company allows PETA to suggest policy changes, attend annual meetings, and propose resolutions to help animals in a way that can't be easily ignored. Unfortunately, this doesn't guarantee that corporate bigwigs won't dig in their heels and refuse to make simple changes that would reduce cruelty to animals nor stop them from trying to mislead other stockholders about PETA's resolution—as pizza giant Papa John's has done in response to a proposal to address the painful dehorning of cows on the dairy factory farms in the company's supply chain. Now PETA is calling on the pizza giant to set the record straight by removing falsehoods and misinformation from its statement of opposition to PETA's resolution.

As shown in PETA's video exposé of dehorning, narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Casey Affleck, workers on dairy farms burn searing-hot irons into calves' heads to destroy horn tissue or use sharp instruments or other tools to saw off, gouge out, or cut off the horn and sometimes the surrounding tissue. Cows struggle desperately during these procedures, which are typically performed without the use of pain relief. Dairy farmers can easily eliminate this cruel, expensive, and labor-intensive procedure by breeding for polled (hornless) cattle, which causes at least half the calves to be born hornless since the polled gene is dominant.

Both common sense and scientific evidence reveal that calves suffer from agonizing pain when their sensitive tissue is burned or sawed off or gouged out of their heads. It's time for Papa John's to stop pretending and come clean about the cruelty of dehorning—and then take decisive action to stop it.

What You Can Do

Cow's milk is vile and unhealthy stuff—don't swallow it. Live (and let live) better, the dairy-free vegan way! 

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First there was Wilbur, then Babe, and now another hero pig is capturing hearts. Watch as an intrepid pig saves a baby goat from drowning.

What's 4 inches wide and pollutes more than an 18-wheeler traveling nearly 150 miles?

When a fire killed 50 cows on a dairy farm in New York, the owner remarked, "We are so thankful that no one was hurt."

Another dairy farm in Colorado was made to pay out $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit in which consumers said the company misled them to believe that its organic milk came from cows who grazed outdoors on small farms, when in reality the cows were crammed onto filthy feedlots, just as they are on many organic dairy farms. 

Sales of the limited-edition chalk bag designed by vegan extreme athlete Steph Davis and outdoor apparel company prAna will benefit PETA, but you can enter to win one! 

©Tommy Chandler

New Feature

White milk, dark secret: Casey Affleck's new exposé of cow dehorning on dairy farms may make milk guzzlers put down the glass.

New Action Alert

Tell NBC that forcing wild animals to perform is no laughing matter and that you will not be watching the network's upcoming sitcom Animal Practice. 

It's been a few years since Casey Affleck graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but he popped up on campus in a new video, asking everyone to be kind to cows—by dumping dairy products.

A PETA supporter wearing a cow costume showed students at Casey's alma mater an undercover dairy farm exposé, "Dehorning: Dairy's Dark Secret," that the vegan actor narrated for PETA. The video shows calves and cows thrashing and crying out as they undergo intensely painful dehorning, in which farm workers gouge out or saw off the restrained animals' sensitive horns or burn away the developing horn tissue—all without any painkillers.

Students found the cruelty in the video hard to stomach, but they loved the free boxes of rich chocolate soy milk, agreeing that it's easy to do away with dairy products with just a few simple swaps. 

Want more Casey? Watch his vegetarian testimonial and then join his campaign to end the abuse of animals on factory farms.

In honor of Father's Day, here are some fathers who are friends to the furry, feathered, and finned. We had way too many great dads like Kevin Nealon, Bryan Adams, Woody Harrelson, Iggy Pop, and Chad Ochocinco to choose from, so here are just a few of the fellas who make us glad for awesome dads:

• Ron Artest loves being a dad to his family, but he knows that dogs and cats are happier without their own brood of offspring and should always be spayed and neutered.
• Vegan dad Casey Affleck is starting his young sons out on a compassionate note, setting a great example by speaking out about the cruelty of the meat industry and lethal steel-jaw traps.
• Alec Baldwin is a proud pop who would never hop on a horse-drawn carriage.
• Tony Gonzalez and his wife could win an award for most beautiful parents, and this fur-free dad has a beautiful heart too.
• Happy first Father's Day to Carey Hart. He and his wife, Pink, seem like they'll be fun parents for their new baby girl, but they'll be pretty serious when teaching her about cruelty to animals.
• With a dad like Tommy Lee and a mom like Pamela Anderson, the Lee boys may grow up to work at PETA! We love any dad kind enough to give a homeless man $100 with the request, "Just don't buy KFC."
• Sir Paul McCartney obviously instilled animal-friendly values in his children, who are all vegetarian, including daughter Stella, who is also a cruelty-free fashion designer.
• Power dad Russell Simmons has been running with PETA for a long time, and he shows his children that being successful and being kind to animals go hand in hand.
• We're not the only ones celebrating fur-free father Amar'e Stoudemire. The Knicks captain is receiving a Father of the Year Award in New York City today.
• There's not a woodland creature who wouldn't love Forest Whitaker, and we're sure his kids think he's pretty darn great too.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

One of my favorite vegan actors, Casey Affleck, is currently starring in a controversial new film, The Killer Inside Me. In it, he plays a small-town cop who turns out to be a psychotic killer. Casey always draws raves from film critics for his understated performances—and adoration from his caring fans who applaud his compassionate vegan lifestyle, a huge contrast to that of the bloody character he plays in this role.

We're giving away one five-pack of the actor's best films on DVD, including Gone Baby Gone, Chasing Amy, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Ocean's Eleven, and an exclusive autographed copy of Lonesome Jim. To win it, simply create your own film title that describes the animal-friendly secret person inside you. Confused? This might help: Mine would be The Three-Tofutti-Cuties-in-One-Sitting Snarfer Inside Me. That film title might not be Oscar-worthy—but your title might land you the Casey Affleck DVD pack.

The contest ends on July 9, 2010, and we'll pick a winner (based on the most creative film title submission) on July 13, 2010. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting.

Good Luck!

Written by Karin Bennett

nj / CC

If you're a New Yorker, you've definitely heard about the fare hikes and service cuts that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) just approved in their 2009 budget. You may have also heard about the man arrested for attempting to mimic the Bush shoe-throwing incident with MTA chief Elliot Sander as a target. People aren't happy about the changes, and that's why PETA is ready to step in and offer our services—no shoes necessary! We propose that the MTA begin advertising over the loudspeakers between subway stops, and we'll even be the first customers. PETA's ads would feature the voices of pro-vegetarian advocates Casey Affleck, Kevin Nealon, and Forrest Whitaker.

Listen to the three PSA's now:

Forest Whitaker
Casey Affleck
Kevin Nealon

Casey Affleck's testimonial on why he's a vegetarian would be the perfect way to increase revenue for the MTA! I know I'd like to hear the voice of a sexy vegetarian like Casey on my morning commute. And hey, it might even encourage them to do something about the speaker quality while they're at it. Can anyone actually understand what they're saying?

Side note: Research shows that vegetarians actually have stronger immune systems than meat eaters, which is always a plus when you're smushed into a little subway car with a hundred coughing strangers. Hopefully, the MTA will consider our offer, for the sake of animals, commuters, and the $2 MetroCard.

Written by Lianne Turner

Honestly, I’m a sucker for pretty much any crime drama. As long as there’s gunplay, a car chase or two, and maybe a bit of double-crossing, I’ll watch the damn thing. But from everything I’ve seen, Gone Baby Gone looks like it’s a cut above. The reviews have been stellar, and all indications are that this is going to be something special.

I mention all this because Gone Baby Gone (which comes out today) is set to establish my boy Casey Affleck as one of Hollywood’s elite leading men, and the value of having someone as well-spoken, thoughtful, and passionate about animal rights as he is in the public eye is pretty much inestimable. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the video Casey made for us about why he’s vegan. There are no car chases or anything, but it’s extremely compelling stuff.

In a bizarre move for a network that prides itself on shocking viewers, Fox Television’s New York affiliate has banned a paid PETA ad—narrated by Ocean’s 13 star Casey Affleck—despite the fact that the ad has been accepted to run on other networks in Los Angeles and in Affleck’s hometown of Boston. We wanted to run the ad during none other than Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen in a bid to show his viewers what happens to animals before they’re turned into ingredients in his kitchen.

Remember when this version of the ad was rejected a couple of months ago for being too graphic? Well, since then, we’ve toned down the factory farm and slaughter scenes in a big way, which worked in LA and Boston. Could the Fox rejection in New York have anything to do with this PETA UK protest of Ramsay’s promotion of horse meat?

Hey, I say if the animal-hating Ramsay gets an hour to promote ways to slice and dice animals, viewers deserve at least 30 seconds of the animals’ side of the story. Here’s the toned down version so you can judge for yourself . . .

And on a lighter note, yes, I will be first in line for the 9 o’clock showing of Ocean’s 13 tonight . . .