Chaka Khan says all she wants to do is keep eating vegan—because she no longer needs medication for type 2 diabetes. And as a bonus, the singer with the big voice is now quite a bit smaller—to the tune of 60 pounds!

Bethenny Frankel's little daughter Bryn probably doesn't even weigh 60 pounds yet, but she's already setting herself up for a lifetime of good health. Bethenny says the 2-year-old chooses not to eat meat but loves her veggies.

Vegan dynamo Ellen DeGeneres never lets an opportunity to speak up for animals pass her by—and she's making sure Adam Levine doesn't either. Adam was chatting with Ellen on her show about his new habit of holding up a piece of paper with a charitable message written on it when the shutterbugs are snapping his picture. So Ellen gave him the perfect ready-made sign: "Please rescue animals."

Steve-O says his dogs rescued him. He credits the love of his two rescued dogs with helping him kick drugs and alcohol. So he's helping dogs by urging other guardians to be kind to their pups and never force them to wear shock collars. "It's horribly painful," he says. "You have to be pretty cruel to put that on a dog."

Miley Cyrus is a gal on a mission to end animal homelessness and is making it a family affair. Miley and her family went straight to a rescue organization to adopt a dog, and she tweeted PETA her excitement over the new pup and the rescued pig PETA sponsored for her birthday. 

Add Liam Gallagher to the list of outspoken animal-friendly celebrities. His clothing line, Pretty Green, is an oasis for animals who are typically killed for their fur—Liam proudly uses only faux.

To keep up with what all your favorite stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter. 

Less than two months ago, PETA called on the Little Rock Zoo to retire its lone elephant, Ellen, (Mary, her companion, had just died), and send her to a sanctuary where she could spend her remaining years in peace and comfort. Now it's too late: Ellen is dead. 
 

Benoit Dupont/cc by 2.0

 
Rather than trying to find out what caused Ellen's rapid decline, zoo officials shut the gates to the public and buried Ellen at an undisclosed location. PETA is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to investigate what really happened and to order a necropsy because of the suspicious handling of Ellen's death. Here are some questions that demand answers:

1. It is unheard of for an entire zoo to close when an animal dies. Why did the Little Rock Zoo shut its doors?
2. Why did the zoo rush to bury Ellen in a secret location? The zoo claims that it did so to prevent someone from stealing Ellen's tusks, but female Asian elephants like Ellen do not have tusks.
3. Why wasn't a necropsy performed, as is standard protocol, especially as the cause of Ellen's death was uncertain?  
4. Was Ellen injured by one of the other elephants recently acquired from Ringling Bros. circus to replace Mary? The zoo's own elephant manager expressed concerns about potential fights between Ellen and the new elephants, Zina and Jewell, and Ringling had documented that Zina has a history of aggression. 

Please join PETA in asking the USDA to investigate the circumstances surrounding Ellen's death.
 

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

PETA Files readers know that we adore Ellen and Oprah for their endless efforts to help animals. Today we're throwing some love—and sending our thanks—to another daytime talk-show host, Dr. Phil, who earlier this week turned his viewers' attention from cheating spouses to the seedy world of dogfighting.

When he confronted a dogfighter during the show, Dr. Phil didn't mince words: "I think dogfighting is wrong. I think it is despicable. I think it is sick. I think it is disgusting." The good doctor also blogged about the Supreme Court's recent ruling on the sale of porn for pup torturers, declaring, "I was sick to my stomach."

We'd also like to point out that Dr. Phil's other guest, Paris Hilton, whom we've taken to task in the past for her own bad behavior, chimed in: "I kind of want to punch [the dogfighter] in the face."

After you thank Dr. Phil for taking on dogfighters, tell us what you think should be done to stop them?

Written by Karin Bennett

weblogs.wpix / CC

When it comes to weekday talk-show fare, it's no surprise that I'm partial to Ellen and Oprah. Today, however, some props go out to Tyra Banks for following up on a feature that set off alarm bells here at PETA.

A few days ago, The Tyra Banks Show aired a segment about a woman who gushed about her "pet" capuchin monkey. Sure, capuchins are cute and smart, but the "Joe Blows" who buy baby monkeys soon realize that they cannot control the strong animals after they outgrow their diapers. Case in point: Oprah's recent interview with Charla Nash, who barely survived an attack by her friend's 15-year-old chimpanzee, Travis. And while capuchins are much smaller than chimpanzees, they are still very strong and very fast, and they have extremely sharp canines that can quickly do a great deal of damage to an unwitting person.

Consequently, many monkeys are discarded at pseudo-sanctuaries and shoddy roadside zoos because there simply aren't enough reputable sanctuaries to care for them all. Some species can live to be well into their 50s, and many primates who are abandoned by their "owners" face decades of misery in appalling conditions.

We wrote to Tyra Banks to express our concern that some viewers might be tempted to purchase a monkey of their own after seeing the segment on her show. We're heartened to learn that she's added a warning on her Web site stating, "Please note, PETA has contacted the show and does not recommend keeping monkeys as pets."

Folks, please let other people know that when it comes to capuchins and other exotic animals, the most humane action is always: "Monkey see, monkey do … not buy one!"

Written by Karin Bennett

Well, for now anyway. The Ellen DeGeneres puppy story has been all over the news lately and a lot of people have been asking us for our stance on the issue, but I have to say I was pretty surprised by the reaction after I posted PETA’s statement on the subject yesterday. Comments ranged from complaints that we were being too soft on her to admonitions that we were being too hard on her to some very impassioned attacks against both Ellen herself and the shelter involved.

But this just isn’t a black-and-white issue. There really are two legit sides to the story, and I honestly can’t understand why anyone would paint either Ellen or Mutts & Moms (the shelter that confiscated her dog) as a villain here. For one thing, the shelter has rules in place for a very good reason—to protect the animals. It seems like in this case they really could have taken the time to make a more thorough evaluation in the hopes of avoiding another traumatic move for the animal (there are certainly plenty of suitable homes for animals with kids in them), but you can’t fault a shelter for enforcing the rules it has in place to prevent animals from ending up in bad situations.

Now as far as Ellen is concerned, she screwed up by not reading what happened to be some really important fine print, but that doesn’t make her a bad person. On the contrary, with so many vapid celebrities running around with puppies under their arms that they picked up from some Hollywood pet store without so much as a passing thought for the millions of homeless animals in shelters, Ellen’s choice to adopt was commendable, and I hope that message doesn’t get lost in all the partisan ranting about this story that’s going on in the media.