Written by PETA
In 2007, PETA received a call from a whistleblower who tipped us off to a Cleveland lab, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF), that performed a fatal brain surgery on a dog for a useless medical-device sales demonstration.
Fast forward to 2008. PETA has received yet another tip from a whistleblower because of yet another alleged unnecessary dog death at the CCF—and this time it appears to be a violation of federal law.
The whistleblower alleges that a healthy dog—who had undergone an experimental transplant in which a heart was inserted into her neck—was killed after surgeons discovered that her airway was blocked by hay. Sadly, the whistleblower says that the dog was knowingly allowed to eat the dangerous hay from the pens of other animals while roaming around the laboratory and disturbing other animals who were recuperating from painful surgeries. I'm pretty sure that the surgeons needed that extra heart, not the dog…
PETA has filed a complaint against the facility with the USDA, and we are asking for an immediate investigation into alleged violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. The potential violations include failure to ensure proper nutrition for dogs (at least one was apparently allowed to eat hay) and failure to ensure adequate veterinary care for animals used in experiments, just to name a couple.
Many Cleveland residents, especially those who frequent the Dawg Pound, would be horrified to know that a lab in their city might be guilty of repeatedly killing healthy dogs who are used in useless experiments. The CCF needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for its apparent disregard for animal welfare, and we hope that the USDA will do just that.
If you want to help, please politely contact the CCF using the information below and ask that it conduct a full and thorough investigation of this matter and take all appropriate corrective actions.
Please send polite comments to:
Paul E. DiCorleto, Ph.D., ChairLerner Research InstituteCleveland ClinicMailstop NB219500 Euclid Ave.Cleveland, OH 44195216-444-5849dicorlp@ccf.org
Sad news—House Peters Jr., the man we all know and love as Mr. Clean, passed away yesterday at the respectable age of 92.
I pretty much love the character of Mr. Clean. In a world of cleaning-product commercials featuring only women, Mr. Clean's gender-stereotype–defying presence was always refreshing. (Plus, he had an earring, which is cool—and pretty progressive for the 1950s, when the character premiered!)
What I don't love, though, is the company responsible for the product Mr. Clean—Proctor & Gamble (P&G), the infamous maker of animal-tested Iams! PETA's problem with P&G goes back pretty far—far enough, in fact, for us to have parodied Mr. Clean's image on a 1998 protest door hanger.
But that wasn't enough to convince P&G to stop abusing animals in the name of "research." While P&G has developed non-animal testing methods and worked to end much of its outdated testing program, even today, eight years later, P&G–owned Iams continues to keep up to 700 dogs and cats locked inside hidden laboratories.
So as we say goodbye to Mr. Clean, we urge you to honor his memory by, say, wearing white T-shirts and gold earrings—not by purchasing Iams.
For a list of dog and cat food brands that are not tested on animals, click here.
Written by Amanda Schinke
Does anyone remember our sexy "Go Veg, Texas" campaign? Of course you do! Well, this time around, we're traveling a bit south of the border and asking Mexico to do the same thing (minus the bikini).
If you haven't yet heard, Mexico has recently started the "Vamos por un millón de kilos'' campaign to encourage all residents to lose weight. Well, we know a thing or two about lookin' fine and stayin' slim without all the grease and cruelty that meat-based diets offer. Check out our letter to President Calderón and let us know what you think:
His Excellency Felipe CalderónPresident of the Republic of Mexico1 page via fax Dear President Calderón: On behalf of PETA, an international animal rights organization with more than 2 million members and supporters worldwide, I applaud your administration's "Vamos por un millón de kilos" campaign. May we add that the best way to help your citizens lose weight while improving their health would be to encourage them to choose a vegetarian diet? As you might know, consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products is linked to the major killers in the U.S. and Mexico—heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and strokes.Animal flesh, milk, and cheese are packed with fat, calories, and cholesterol. It's little wonder that as Mexicans move away from a traditional Mexican diet high in healthy vegetables, grains, fruit, and beans and toward the typical U.S. diet, which is laden with fatty animal flesh and devoid of fiber, they are also following their neighbors to the north in packing on the pounds and becoming sick and prematurely incapacitated. Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that vegetarians are far less likely to be overweight than meat-eaters and far more likely to be in better overall health. They live longer and die less painful deaths. The American Dietetic Association—the largest group of nutrition professionals in the U.S.—reviewed hundreds of studies and concluded that vegetarians have lower rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer than people who eat meat. A healthy vegetarian diet provides all the nutrients that we need to thrive—without the saturated animal fats and cholesterol found in meat that cause weight gain and clogged arteries. In addition, every vegetarian saves hundreds of animals from the horrible cruelty of the meat industry, such as mutilation without any painkillers, intensive confinement, and violent slaughter. To help kick off the "Go Vegetarian, Mexico" campaign, two of PETA's beautiful Lettuce Ladies would like to join you for an event at the National Palace to hand out delicious vegetarian fare—like tasty faux-beef tacos and soy-cheese and mock-chicken quesadillas—along with copies of our "Vegetarian Starter Kit." (The kit can be viewed online at SeaVegetariano.com.) Please let me know when you would like to schedule this exciting event. Thank you for your consideration.Very truly yours, Ingrid E. NewkirkPresident
Written by Christine Doré
With Disney's new animated feature Beverly Hills Chihuahua slated for release on Oct 3, animal defenders like your good homies here at PETA are readying our disaster-prevention tactics. While it's sure to be an adorable film, the fantasy world it portrays can have devastating unintended effects. Remember the live-action 101 Dalmatians movie and its sequel? Immediately after the films, there were enormous spikes in demand for spotted pups. In the months after the release of each film, the number of Dalmatians who were abandoned at animal shelters tripled throughout the country. They outnumbered every other breed in 1996. According to an animal-shelter official, someone would turn in a Dalmatian and tell the workers, "This dog didn't act like Pongo in the movie."
Apparently, watching professionally trained dogs perform adorable tricks gives some people the illusion that those breeds naturally behave that way—and then they can't wait to take one home. Unrealistic expectations like this can create a dangerous trend. The impulsive purchases that ensue mean that the dirty backyard-breeding market booms. Ultimately, animal shelters overflow. Now can you see why we're not so happy about this Chihuahua movie?
Disney has included a disclaimer on its Web site and at the end of the film about the lifelong responsibility of taking in an animal companion. Quite impressively, they even encourage people to adopt rather than purchase an animal. While this is sure to do some good, it isn't enough. Not everyone will visit the site, and very few people will stay through the credits of a kids' movie. There was time early on for Disney to put signs in movie theaters and speak out to urge people not to buy Chihuahuas—to let people know that if they do buy the cute little dogs, it means a death sentence for dogs in animal shelters.
Now, if you find yourself among the responsible animal guardians who simply must adopt a beautiful Chihuahua—or you have friends who'd like to—please visit petfinder.com to view a listing of the thousands of animals—including purebreds—who are sitting in your local animal shelters right now. You can search by breed in animal shelters across the nation—and help save quite a few lives in the process.
Written by Missy Lane
OK, I'll admit it—Mr. Peanut looked pretty sharp (who doesn't look good in a monocle?), but the real stars of last month's annual Virginia Peanut Festival parade were PETA's new mobile Animal Birth Control Clinic and the plucky 'pups' who walked alongside it. They were there to spread the word about the importance of spaying and neutering animal companions and to offer the services of our low- to no-cost clinic to the thousands of low-income families in attendance. The peanut-loving people of Emporia swarmed us to sign up their dogs and cats to be sterilized. Participating in a nutty parade (both figuratively and literally nutty) and doing something to stop thousands of unwanted puppies and kittens from being born—I'd say that's a pretty sweet way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Written by Amy Elizabeth
As I'm sure you are already aware, today is World Farm Animals Day! It's a good time for all of us to remember the pain that many farmed animals go through every day for human consumption, but it's also a good time to remember the joy that animals bring to our lives. In light of this holiday, we are hosting Kentucky Fried Cruelty demonstrations all over the country to encourage people to think about how their meal choices affect the environment—and the pain that meat-based diets inflict on farmed animals.
We're hoping that the demos today will really make people think, but it's not the first time we've donned chicken suits and sat in scalding tanks to make the public aware that KFC tortures birds and that chickens are intelligent, wonderful animals who feel pain and fear for their lives just like dogs and cats.
Please check out our slideshow of KFC demos from around the world and leave a comment to tell us which is your favorite picture! If you haven't yet, please order a copy of our "Vegetarian Starter Kit." World Farm Animals Day is the best time to take that first step!
If you are not an Olympic athlete, you can still head on over to Beijing to take in the full glory of human athleticism. And while there, you can stop by Guolizhuang and get yourself some ox, donkey, and sheep penises (as well as deer penises, of course—I didn't mean to leave those out).
And if you feel like dropping a cool $500, you can also get some Canadian seal penises. You mean we can bash their heads in, skin them for their fur, AND pay $500 to eat their penises?!?! Penis: It's what's for dinner.
Let's face it, China may be on top of its game in terms of technological innovations, but when it comes to animal protection, the country is dead last at the bottom of the dog pile.
China severely lacks any form of animal welfare. Our investigations into Chinese fur farms and live markets have shown some of the most horrendous acts of cruelty and conditions for animals raised for human use.
We're pleased that Beijing has opted out of the dog-slaughtering business—at least for a few weeks and if only for Olympic restaurants. But I have a suspicion it's not because someone up top realized that dogs feel pain.
A better idea would be to ban all meat from the restaurants. Cows, chickens, pigs, and fish value their lives and don't want to suffer, and they certainly die as wretchedly as dogs do, even if most people never get to know one in the way that they get to know a dog. Kind of a double standard, don't you think?
Besides, the Olympic athletes certainly don't need all the fat and cholesterol loaded in each bite of meat. It would suck to be one lap away from winning gold and suffer a heart attack. Take a bit of advice from Carl Lewis, a legendary Olympian, a vegetarian, and the man who's broken more records than humanly possible.
The only real breakfast of champions is one that's meat-free. And you can take that to the winner's podium.
Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky
The little pig, named Zhu Jianqiang or "Strong Pig," was trapped under rubble and emaciated after only eating charcoal and drinking rain water to survive!
In light of the tragic Midwest floods—in which pigs swam for days to get to safety, only to be shot to death, which is just one horror story among so many—the rescue of Strong Pig from the rubble of such a devastating natural disaster is a beautiful glimmer of hope, right? I told you this was heartwarming. These pigs—who were supposed to be slaughtered in two parts of the world where pork is a staple food—desperately struggled for their lives right along with humans, and it leave no doubt as to pigs' commonality with us.
While knowing that this little guy has a safe place to lay his head from now on is reason enough to love this story, I've got to admit to the little kick that I get out of thinking about the folks who view these intelligent beings as no more than "food" getting a glimpse into the human-like quality of their dinner.
From the "turnabout is fair play" department—and from an Israeli Web site called PetKaput.com—comes a video that dares to imagine what would happen if some role reversal were to happen in the notorious Chinese fur trade. The result is somehow creepier than all the Saw and Hostel films put together—and yet weirdly funny too. Not David Cross or Amy Sedaris funny, but—well, I can't really explain it; you just have to watch:
Ouch! Admittedly, it's a little disturbing, but keep in mind that it's only animation, so no one was actually hurt in the making of it (unfortunately, the same can't be said for the video that inspired it).
Posted 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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