Update: After a dog died in a Detroit house fire on Wednesday, PETA is extending our offer of free emergency stickers to 1,000 Detroit-area residents. 

The following was originally posted on February 12, 2013:

Following the deaths of two dogs in a recent fire in Cleveland, PETA is offering free "Please Save Our Animals" stickers to the first 1,000 Cleveland-area residents who request them via e-mail during February.

The heartbreaking loss of cherished animal companions should serve as a reminder of the importance of emergency planning that includes all your family members. Firefighters and disaster-relief workers frequently perform heroic rescues of animals, but it's vital to let them know to look for your dogs, cats, or other animals who might be missed amid smoke or wreckage.

If you share your home with animals, placing PETA's bright-yellow emergency window stickers near your front and back doors and on side windows can mean the difference between life and death for them in case a weather emergency or fire strikes when you aren't home. For those outside the Cleveland area, stickers may be ordered from the PETA Catalog—or you can easily create your own sign on your computer and get it laminated at a copy or shipping store.

PETA is dishing up a partial solution to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's budget shortfall: Don't cut teachers' jobs—cut animal products instead. We've offered to pay to place ads featuring our chick mascot, Nugget, on school lunch trays to encourage kids to go vegan:

And if the school board takes us up on our offer, we'll even throw in a lunch of meat-free chicken nuggets, vegan chili, and corn on the cob for one of the district's schools.

Besides keeping the school district in the black, the ads could help students and teachers keep their consciences in the clear. Going vegan is the number one way that people can prevent cruelty to animals and environmental destruction. 

We can't think of a better way for Cleveland to feed students and feed the pig.

Dear Cleveland,

We know that it's hard to let go of LeBron James. Our hearts melted for you when we heard that he signed with the Miami Heat, so we thought we'd cruise around Cleveland today, doing something really cool to lift your spirits: handing out free Tofutti Cuties in outfits that would make most cheerleaders blush.

These vegan cuties (the soy ice cream, that is) are the perfect way to "beat the heat." But we are also big softies for animals and the Earth. Did you know that raising animals for food is a major cause of greenhouse-gas emissions? A recent U.N. report concluded that a global shift toward a vegan diet is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change. Plus, switching to a dairy-free diet reduces the suffering of cows and can help lower your risk of cancer, heart disease, and obesity—meaning that you'll be in your stadium seats cheering on the Cavs for years to come.

So keep your chin up Cleveland. You'll go on without LeBron. And please enjoy the Tofutti Cuties on us!

Love,

PETA's "Cleavage Cavalier" Cuties

When rock deity Chrissie Hynde says "I'll Stand By You," she really means it.

When we told Hynde that we were resurrecting our McCruelty campaign, she pulled out all the stops, starting by unveiling her new "i'm hatin' it" ad in Salt Lake City, where throngs of people were thrilled to see the powerful image. But the folks at Cleveland Outdoor Advertising weren't so thrilled when we submitted the Ohio native's ad to them as a billboard. According to PETA's advertising agent, Cleveland Outdoor Advertising "didn't feel comfortable" with the ad.

Well, often the truth isn't comfortable, and in this case it's painful—scalding, actually. The chickens who are killed by McDonald's suppliers are dumped onto conveyer belts, shackled upside down, and then run through an electrically charged "stun bath" before their throats are cut and they are immersed in defeathering tanks full of scalding-hot water—often while they are still conscious and able to feel pain. Join Chrissie Hynde in urging McDonald's to make it suppliers adopt controlled-atmosphere killing, a less cruel method of slaughter. It would cost the corporation nothing to ask its suppliers to make the switch, which would spare millions of chickens from enduring extreme suffering.

Written by Logan Scherer