Sheep may safely graze, but foxes are out of luck at an abysmal fur farm in Joliet, Illinois, that's run by, of all people, a Catholic priest. PETA recently filed a complaint with law-enforcement authorities regarding the fox fur farm, which is operated by the Rev. Richard Ross of St. Bernard Catholic Church in Joliet. While the agencies promptly launched an investigation, they were unable to take action against Ross because the conditions on this farm, while appalling, are not illegal.

The foxes are confined to cramped, rusty wire cages—with little protection from heat, rain, and snow—until the day they are slaughtered and skinned. Cages may contain up to seven foxes apiece, and one fox was caught on video spinning in circles—a classic symptom of "zoochosis," or captivity-induced madness. As PETA researcher Dan Paden pointed out in a letter to Ross, even if such conditions do not violate Illinois law, they surely violate the church's instructions to have "a religious respect for the integrity of creation."

What kind of Christian—let alone a man of the cloth—would treat God's creatures this way? The kind of man who would say (after his brother—who is also a priest—was accused of molesting a young boy), "I don't have much sympathy for people who somehow couldn't stop whatever happened. I'll take all of these people who were abused, and I'll abuse them with a baseball bat."

After seeing how the Rev. Ross treats foxes, we believe him.

Please politely send your comments to:Rev. Richard Ross(815) 726-4474 St. Bernard Catholic Church1313 Ridgewood Ave Joliet, IL 60432-2698

Written by Alisa Mullins

kandle / CC

"For…give me vegan deliciousness, father," might be the only thing that Catholics in confessionals need to say this Lent if the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops takes a tip from us. We're asking him to encourage bishops around the country to ask their pastors to go vegan for Lent and to encourage congregants to do the same. When you eat cruelty-free, you're saving lives, fighting world poverty, and curbing climate change—so you won't have quite as much on your conscience.

With the season of abstinence just two weeks away, our Pledge to Go Vegan for Lent is the easiest way for Christians to honor God's creatures, the world He entrusted to us, our own bodies, and each other.

Written by Logan Scherer

henryjacksonsociety / CC

In preparation for the World Day of Peace on January 1, 2010, Pope Benedict released a statement calling for a more "sober lifestyle" and a move "beyond a purely consumerist mentality." We've got two words for the pope to add to his call to save the environment: Go vegan.

Raising animals for food wastes resources and devastates our environment. Going vegan curbs climate change and promotes everything Jesus required of his followers: compassion and love toward all beings. We've written a letter to Pope Benedict asking that the Vatican become a global leader on the path to (green) peace by serving only vegan meals.

Even the pontiff himself has spoken out against the factory farming industry and its un-Biblical ways. "Certainly, a sort of industrial use of creatures, so that geese are fed in such a way as to produce as large a liver as possible, or hens live so packed together that they become just caricatures of birds, this degrading of living creatures to a commodity seems to me in fact to contradict the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible," he said in an interview in 2002.

The bovine pope has been cruelty-free his entire life—we think it's time for his human counterpart to follow suit. So what do you say, Your Holiness? Won't you give peas a chance?

Written by Logan Scherer

Tongues are already wagging over Joanna Krupa's latest PETA ad, but not everyone is showering this angel for animals with love and support. More specifically, the Catholic League had some not-so-nice things to say. Always on her toes, the Dancing With the Stars alum was swift to come to the defense of her newest ad by releasing the following statement about why she chose to pose for us:

Written by Shawna Flavell