Update: Well, that was fast! Shortly after Mary Matalin sent a personal appeal on PETA's behalf urging lawmakers to shelve bills intended to prevent undercover investigations of factory farms, legislators in Arkansas have scrapped their proposed "ag-gag" measures.

Now, let's keep the momentum going—if you live in California, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, or Vermont, please tell your state legislators to drop "ag-gag" bills and protect animals, consumers, and free speech.

The following was originally posted on March 28, 2013:

Republican strategist Mary Matalin and her husband, Democratic consultant James Carville, differ on most political issues—but when it comes to legislative attempts to block undercover investigators from PETA and other organizations from revealing how animals suffer on factory farms, the couple stands united in opposition to "ag-gag" bills.

To that end, Matalin filmed a PETA appeal and sent it to Republican legislators—the primary sponsors of these measures—in Arkansas, California, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Vermont, highlighting the importance of PETA's undercover work in prosecuting abusers and stopping institutionalized cruelty. After she introduces a video clip about a case that revealed routine beatings and even the sexual abuse of pigs on a Midwestern factory farm and which led to criminal convictions, Matalin states, "A meat-trade magazine called the case a 'wake-up call' for the industry. Unfortunately, factory farms keep hitting the snooze button, and instead of fixing the problems, they're trying to blame the messenger."

What You Can Do

Thanks to the support of concerned citizens, "ag-gag" bills have already been killed in several states, but we can't rest until all lawmakers stop trying to shield lawbreakers. Please join PETA, Mary Matalin, James Carville, Bob Barker, Cloris Leachman, Katherine Heigl, and many other figures from both sides of the aisle in urging legislators to protect consumers' right to know the truth about factory farms. If you live in Arkansas, California, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, or Vermont, please take action. 

Last night, the Stand-Up for Animals PETA benefit show at the famous Comedy Store on L.A.'s Sunset Strip was funnier than a barrel of animatronic monkeys.

Bill Maher, Jane Lynch, Carol Leifer, Jeffrey Ross, Marc Maron, and host Fred Willard—in other words, some of the most talented comedians in the world—came together to raise money for PETA and kept the packed house laughing until the audience's sides hurt. 

Guests included Pink, Carey Hart, Olivia Munn, Cloris Leachman, Jorja Fox, Christian Serratos, Renee Olstead, Elisabetta Canalis, Emily Osment, and Moby, many of whom tried valiantly not to do spit takes with The Comedy Store's delicious vegan snacks while laughing at Jeffrey Ross' hysterical poem to his cat or Carol Leifer's explanation that she had to go vegan because being a Jewish lesbian wasn't enough.

Bill Maher quipped, "Before PETA was around, you know, you could f-ck with animals any way, anybody, anytime, anywhere, and now you can't. That's a pretty big change in the world. That's a big achievement. … Animals will not be ignored. They're the Glenn Close of species."

And with all the funds raised by the end of the night, PETA can make sure that animal abusers won't be laughing for long.

Last year, PETA and other animal advocates successfully defeated "ag gag" bills in Florida, New York, Minnesota, and Iowa. Now, another "ag gag" bill that would make it illegal to shoot video on a factory farm has just passed in the House of Representatives in Utah. And once again, we're fighting back against this unconstitutional measure.

Flush from her success in her home state of Iowa, Raising Hope star and longtime animal advocate Cloris Leachman penned a letter to Utah lawmakers on PETA's behalf urging them not to block people from gathering the evidence needed to prosecute animal abusers

Every PETA undercover investigation of factory farms has yielded evidence that workers were abusing animals. We recorded workers who sexually assaulted a pig with a cane, stomped on a turkey's head until her skull exploded, and spit tobacco into chickens' eyes and mouth. This indisputable proof of abuse is key to securing historic charges against and convictions of such abusers on cruelty-to-animals charges.

How You Can Help

Utah residents, please ask your senators to vote against this bill and to continue to allow people to expose blatant cruelty to animals.

Quite a few longtime PETA friends and faves were among the celebs who told the Associated Press about their animal-oriented New Year's resolutions, including Bob Barker ("To continue urging folks to have their pets spayed and neutered—including rabbits."), Lea Michele ("I wish that [my cat] Sheila would stop going into my bathroom, taking out all my cotton balls out of the jars and spreading them all over."), and Katherine Heigl (whose dogs want her "to feed them consistently on time in the morning"), not to mention superhot Josh Duhamel and music legend Roberta Flack, whom we love all the more after hearing about their rescued animal friends.

Other pro-adoption superstars? How about George Clooney, who recently talked to Esquire about adopting his shelter mutt, Einstein? Or Charlize Theron, who wants more people to, well, be like George?

If anyone you know needs convincing that tofu scramble is the real breakfast of champions, you can remind him or her that vegan WWE superstar Daniel Bryan has been awarded the world heavyweight title. Then break a chair across his or her back just to get the point across. (PETA's lawyers would like us to note that this is a joke and that violence is never the answer.)

Not to be outdone, the UFC took to Twitter to urge fans to vote for Jake Shields for peta2's Most Animal-Friendly Athlete Libby Award.

A number of other stars offered up pro-animal tweets as well:

And the always amazing Oscar-winner and Raising Hope star Cloris Leachman raised some hope for animals abused in circuses by writing to the mayor of Orlando and asking him to protect the elephants scheduled to perform in the city with Ringling Bros.

The word on Twitter is that celebs are rejoicing over Ringling's being slapped with the largest penalty in circus history for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Other celebs are buzzing about going postal.

Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski gave dogs in animal shelters something to rejoice over, discussing her "Always Adopt, Never Buy" campaign with PETA in the winter issue of Modern Dog magazine and urging readers to hop on the adoption train. As if that weren't enough, she then asked them to think about where fur comes from.

Morrissey and his bandmates left little doubt over what they think of fur when the band donned PETA shirts with a, ahem, choice message at a show in L.A.

Wearing fur is such a faux pas that designers are hard-pressed to find celebs willing to look like a permutation of Bigfoot. Reigning Sexiest Vegetarian Kristen Wiig says she will "never wear fur," and cruelty-free fashion designer Stella McCartney snagged the Red Carpet Award at the British Fashion Awards for her fur- and leather-free designs.

This week, animals lost a great advocate when comedian Patrice O'Neal passed away. "I am … [an] extreme animal lover," he once said. "I get sick when I see animals suffering." Farewell, friend.

Remember how PETA called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to order Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to remove a sick elephant named Sarah from the road? Well, Sarah is still being prodded into boxcars and arenas, despite the fact that she is suffering from a chronic infection and arthritis—which is why The Daily Show correspondent and star of the highly anticipated Aaron Sorkin HBO series More as This Story Develops Olivia Munn has added to PETA's pleas with one of her own:

Sarah even collapsed earlier this summer in California while being loaded onto the circus's train, yet Ringling had her up and performing in the very next show.

Please click here to join PETA and Olivia now in calling on the USDA to seize Sarah and transfer her to a reputable facility where she can get the care and treatment that she so desperately needs. And urge the agency to comply with its legal duty to notify the U.S. attorney general of the serious dangers to Sarah's health so that a temporary restraining order or injunction can be obtained to protect Sarah's well-being.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

Update: In just over 24 hours, the "Stop Animal Homelessness at Its Roots" petition surpassed 5,000 signatures and became one of the first petitions to reach the level necessary to be sent to the Obama administration! Please keep asking everyone you know to sign this important petition so that we can alert the White House to how strongly people feel about the animal homelessness crisis.

Folks, this is huge. Starting today, we have a chance to show President Obama and our government that the companion-animal homelessness crisis deserves national attention.

The White House just launched a site on which citizens can post petitions, and any petition that receives 5,000 signatures in 30 days will merit review by administration officials. PETA has posted a petition asking that all animals adopted from animal shelters and bought from pet stores, puppy mills, and breeders be spayed and neutered. Bob Barker will be signing it, and he's asking for your support.

This is an opportunity to get the White House to pay attention to the fact that millions of dogs and cats are abandoned on the streets or turned over to severely crowded animal shelters each year.

Stars such as Cloris Leachman, Mickey Rourke, and Metta World Peace (aka "Ron Artest") support spaying and neutering because it saves lives, and you can too. Please sign PETA's "Stop Animal Homelessness at Its Roots" petition now and forward it to everyone you know. Get your family, your office, your old school pals, your club, your gym—everyone!—to sign it pronto. Please!

If the petition site doesn't work, please try back later. It looks like the site has been having some issues this morning, and we're hoping that it's just because so many of you have been signing the petition that the site is trying to catch up.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Get ready to tap your feet—the two-hour season premiere of Dancing With the Stars airs tonight on ABC, and as usual, PETA pals are strutting their animal-friendly stuff.

Just a week after she unveiled her "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" ad, Elisabetta Canalis will make her Dancing debut, and she's rumored to be the early favorite. When asked if Elisabetta's PETA ad would help in the competition, her partner Val Chmerkovskiy said, "I don't know if it will help us, but I do hope it helps PETA. Before I found out that Elisabetta was involved with PETA, I was astounded how conscious she was about animal cruelty and how passionate she was about helping animals involved in any sort of mistreatment."

Fellow animal advocate Ricki Lake could be a serious contender too. She proved she has determination when she was arrested after storming Karl Lagerfeld's showroom to demand that the designer stop using fur. And spay-and-neuter advocate Metta World Peace (aka: "Ron Artest") might put his fancy footwork to good use off the court and pull off an upset.

Elisabetta, Ricki, and Metta World Peace are in good company. Previous DWTS rosters read like the guest list at a PETA fundraiser. Pamela Anderson, Cloris Leachman, Steve-O, Joanna Krupa, Kelly Osbourne, Lance Bass, Jennie Garth, Audrina Patridge, Belinda Carlisle, Holly Madison, Mario, Shanna Moakler, Karina Smirnoff, and even judge Carrie Ann Inaba all know that the most important steps you take are those that help animals.

Good luck, Elisabetta, Ricki, and Ron! We'll be rooting (and voting) for you.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

"Skinnygirl" Bethenny Frankel might be calling us for tips—she is raising baby Bryn on a healthy vegetarian diet. 

Award-winning singer Leona Lewis is also a champ for seals. The longtime vegetarian and fur foe is calling for an end to the seal slaughter in Namibia. But one place that fur was welcome—and, in fact, required—was at a dog fashion show hosted by Kevin Nealon, which raised money for spay-and-neuter clinics.

Many stars have been letting their fingers do the talking, sending pro-animal messages to their millions of Twitter followers:

American Idol veteran Jordin Sparks and her four dogs would probably have enjoyed the show—Sparks makes sure that they get plenty of quality time together. The dogs travel right alongside her on her tour bus, and (get your "Awww!" ready) she says that she strives to be a better person because of them.

Is Elle Fanning thinking about becoming an animal parent too? The Super 8 star was spotted in Santa Monica looking at cats who were up for adoption.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Lights, camera, justice for animals! A controversial Florida bill that would have made filming and photographing factory farms without the owner's permission illegal—and which PETA Vice President Dan Mathews personally visited Florida to speak out against—has died in the House. This is a huge victory for animals, since the bill would have essentially banned the undercover investigations necessary to expose cruelty to animals on factory farms, prosecute the offenders, and lobby for improved animal welfare standards.
 

 
Unfortunately, animals are still under attack in Iowa and Minnesota, where legislators are still considering bills that would subject whistleblowers to criminal prosecution. Cloris Leachman has written on PETA's behalf to legislators in both states explaining that filming is necessary for exposing criminal cruelty to animals.

You can speak out against these thinly veiled attempts by the meat industry to hide the truth, even if you don't live in Minnesota or Iowa, by e-mailing the governors of both states and urging them to veto the hush bills if they are passed.
 

Written by Michelle Sherrow