Written by PETA
Can you say "bombshell" in an airport? Fans of Meet the Parents probably agree that it wouldn't be wise, and after the Christmas Day attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airplane, I'm not sure. But I've no doubt that's what United Airways passengers were thinking as they feasted their eyes on PETA's Lettuce Lady yesterday. Our lavish lady was at LAX, sharing her lifesaving message, her charms, and Tofurky sandwiches with hungry fliers en route to Detroit.
While most Americans will never fall victim to a terrorist attack, those who consume pepperoni and provolone increase their risk of succumbing to other killers (heart attacks, cancer, or strokes) to one in four or less. The best security for airline travelers (and everyone else) is to jettison meat, eggs, and dairy products from their diets.
Written by Karin Bennett
"Super Freak." Super Target. Superbad. I'd say the wedding reception classic, shopper's wonderland, and hit flick are all worth cheering. But "superbugs," a la swine flu, salmonella, and E. coli? Not so much.
These drug-resistant infections contaminate not only our air and waterways but also America's meat supply, which is also greatly responsible for creating them. The practice of feeding antibiotics to crowded factory farmed pigs, chickens, and cows started in the '90s and has since skyrocketed—70 percent of the antibiotics in the U.S. last year were used on factory farms. Old killers like malaria, tuberculosis, and staph are making comebacks, stronger than ever. And thanks to the overuse of antibiotics, more than 65,000 people died last year from drug-resistant infections.
Health and government officials everywhere, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the White House to the World Health Organization, are worried. This alarming article by the Associate Press, which I urge you to read and forward, had so many mind-boggling stats and quotes that I was tempted to cut and paste it in its entirety. Instead, I lifted the following quotes:
"This is a living breathing problem, it's the big bad wolf and it's knocking at our door."—Dr. Vance Fowler, Infectious disease specialist, Duke University
"If we're not careful with antibiotics and the programs to administer them, we're going to be in a post antibiotic era." —Dr. Thomas Frieden, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
"If you mixed an antibiotic in your child's cereal, people would think you're crazy." —Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, Democrat from New York
How can you keep superbugs at bay? Start by going vegan. There's no doubt that you'll save animal lives—and better protect your own.
The following post originally appeared in Florida's Bradenton Herald.
Who would you save—your child or your dog? This is the phony choice lobbed at those of us who advocate for the replacement of animal tests with non-animal testing methods. Fortunately, you don't have to choose.
Under pressure from citizens concerned about exposure to hazardous chemicals, Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are now considering overhauling toxic-chemical regulations. In more than a decade—and despite killing many millions of animals in chemical toxicity tests—the EPA has failed abysmally to safeguard the public by pulling dangerous substances off the market. The examples are legion and well documented.
For instance, the link between benzene—a gasoline component and solvent widely used in the preparation of drugs and plastics—and human leukemia was established as early as 1928, yet dozens of subsequent animal studies failed to replicate benzene's cancer-causing effects. Only during the late 1980s were researchers finally able to induce cancer in animals by overdosing them with benzene—and our government is still testing benzene on animals.
Exposure to arsenic has been implicated in increased cancer risk for nearly 150 years. Smelter workers exposed to arsenic in the air are at higher risk for developing lung cancer, and population studies show that arsenic in drinking water can also cause cancer. Yet regulation was delayed for decades while thousands of animals were killed in experiments that attempted to reproduce the effects already seen in humans. Reviews published as late as 1977 reported that animal experiments had failed to produce evidence supporting a link between arsenic exposure and increased cancer risk. It was not until the late 1980s that researchers finally succeeded in reproducing the cancer-causing effects of arsenic in animals.
Updating our chemical management laws is important for protecting human health and the environment. But in order to be effective, we must acknowledge that the current way of testing chemicals for toxic effects uses methods that are decades old, condemns thousands of animals per chemical and provides information that is not very useful for regulating chemicals. Much has happened in the fields of biology and toxicology in the past few decades, and it is imperative that we use all of our current understanding and technology to test chemicals. In addition to providing more relevant and useful information, the modern methods also use many fewer animals—perhaps even no animals.With tens of thousands of chemicals on the market and more entering it every day, it's now widely recognized, even by regulators, that "it is simply not possible with all the animals in the world to go through chemicals in the blind way we have at the present time, and reach credible conclusions about the hazards to human health" (Dr. Joshua Lederberg, Nobel laureate in medicine).
The National Academy of Sciences, the government's own scientific arm, released a report in 2007 confirming that scientific advances can "transform toxicity testing from a system based on whole-animal testing to one founded primarily on in vitro (non-animal) methods." Such an approach will improve efficiency, speed and prediction for humans while cutting costs and reducing animal suffering. Indeed, high-tech methods are the only way thousands of chemicals can be tested.
Any update of the laws regulating toxic chemicals must include measures to ensure that the most modern testing methods are used. It is critical that the science underlying chemical safety assessments be updated from the crude animal tests developed around the time of World War I to the 21st century technology that is now available. Without this shift in science, chemical management reform of the kind being proposed by the EPA and others is logistically impossible.
So, your child or your dog? We now can—and should—save both.
Written by Jessica Sandler, director of regulatory testing
This year is coming to a close, but we're not done yet: The victories keep pouring, or should I say, roaring in! We recently reported the end of cruel cat labs at Texas Tech and Robert's "retirement" from experiments at the University of Utah. Today, we're thrilled to announce yet another huge victory—this time, for thousands of monkeys.
For months, PETA has been working with an international coalition of animal protection groups to stop the construction of a massive monkey-breeding facility in Guayama, Puerto Rico. Bioculture, a company that sells primates to laboratories, had plans to capture thousands of monkeys from Mauritius and ship them to Puerto Rico so that their offspring could be sold for use in frightening, painful, and deadly experiments in the U.S. and elsewhere.
We have just learned that in response to a lawsuit filed by local citizens and PETA, a Superior Court judge in Puerto Rico has ruled in activists' favor and halted all further construction of the Bioculture facility.
Turns out there are serious problems with Bioculture's applications and permits, including that the construction of the primate facility on the land it currently occupies would be against the law. An investigation by Puerto Rico's Senate Environmental Committee also discovered that Bioculture did not properly address the detrimental impact the project could have on local citizens and their water supplies and land and stated that it "is not sensible" for Puerto Rico to support the project.
Despite this great news, I imagine Bioculture execs trying to regroup, telling themselves, "Where there's a will [for us to cash in on cruelty], there's a way." Help us nix that notion by urging officials to permanently put a stop to this monkey-breeding facility and others in the future.
It wasn't easy to choose two people out of the slew of celebrities who have taken action for animals this year—heck, just during the past two months, Joanna Krupa bared her true feelings about purebred pups, Ana Ortiz blasted McDonald's, and a blinding number of stars all agreed that protesting the Canadian seal slaughter fit their caring personalities to a T.
But we had to make a decision, so this year, PETA's Man of the Year is Tim Gunn and PETA's Woman of the Year is Ellen DeGeneres. I must say, we're over the moon about it!
Let's start with Ellen—ever since she and her wife, Portia De Rossi, decided to ditch all animal products in 2008, Ellen has made sure that her wildly popular talk show includes features to raise people's awareness of animal issues. She made vegan pizza with Chef Wolfgang Puck, spoke with Dr. Neal Barnard about the health benefits of a vegan diet, and just in time for Thanksgiving, "talked turkey" about the everyday abuse of animals on factory farms with Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals. Ellen also created pages on her Web site that feature insight, info, and tips about cruelty-free living. Visitors can find recipes, read about why Ellen went vegan, learn where to shop, and more.
Now on to Tim Gunn: The connoisseur of class, the guru of good taste, the titan of tact (I could go on all afternoon with these) narrated our video exposing skin-crawling atrocities suffered by animals who are slaughtered for their pelts, and the media have been buzzing ever since. Tim recently told the L.A. Times, "Wearing fur is like wearing a big sign reading, 'I'm in favor of inflicting cruelty and pain on animals as a fashion statement.' Unspeakable torture is inflicted on dogs, cats, bunnies, raccoons, foxes, minks, and myriad trapped, helpless creatures in the name of fashion—yes, dogs and cats."
And thanks to Tim, fur challenges are noticeably absent from Project Runway—and there's zero fur at Liz Claiborne, where he is chief creative officer.
So, to Ellen DeGeneres for her exuberant embrace of cruelty-free living and to Tim Gunn for his thoughtful and thought-provoking messages of compassion for animals, we at PETA are dancing in the halls. Thank you, thank you! And conga-rats!
I don't know about you, but I've already accomplished my first goal of the new decade—to spice up my bedtime. I'll admit it: Before I got myself a pair of PETA's plaid pajama bottoms, I was just a gray-sweatpants kind of guy. I mean, don't get me wrong—I love myself a good pair of sweatpants, but plaid is the Stella McCartney of nighttime couture.
With 2010 just days away, I know we've all got the future on our mind, but all this talk about PJs gets me thinking back to the days when I was sporting onesies and sleeping with Piggy, my favorite stuffed animal. By the time I was 5, he had one-and-a-half ears and had turned from piglet pink to who-knows-what brown. To win a pair of our plaid pajama bottoms, tell us about the plush animal you used to (or for all you young-at-hearts, still) bring to bed with you. (Come on, we all had one!) We'll give a pair to the three readers with the most original slumberland memories—make us laugh, cry, and wish we were 5 again!
Enter by posting your anecdote in the comments section. The contest ends on January 13, 2010, and we'll pick the three winners on January 15, 2010. Best sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Good luck!
Written by Logan Scherer
The holidays are almost over, and after days of small talk with friends and family, there's nothing I want more than to go bleary-eyed from playing video games. With the announcement that The Sims 3 has just won PETA's Proggy Award for Most Animal-Friendly Game of 2009, it's obvious which digital world I'll be inhabiting well into the new year.
In the latest version of the biggest-selling gaming franchise ever, Electronic Arts allows players to choose a vegetarian lifestyle. According to game testers, vegetarian Sims, like their real-life counterparts, live longer, age more slowly, and feast on cruelty-free delights—from tofu dogs to ratatouille. And, like all great art, The Sims 3 imitates life—if your Sim eats meat, it will get sick.
EA's compassionate update to its perennial favorite shows commitment not only to animals but also to the game's players. In Sims 2, players who wanted vegetarian Sims had to manually create mods to meet their cruelty-free standards. Now, digital life—featuring an official vegetarian lifestyle—is a lot easier.
Last year, the Proggy went to Fable 2—the epic journey in which fruits and vegetables give you purity points and meat gives you corruption points. My holiday gift to myself? Purity points and digital tofu dogs galore. I'm about to hole up in room with these totally guilt-free pleasures for a very long time—no more actual socializing until 2010!
Mario knows what it's like to be on top—his new album, D.N.A., has been climbing the charts—but his compassion keeps him grounded. That's why this Billboard Music Award–winning R&B crooner is baring his "Soul Truth" tattoo (and his chest) in a sexy new "Ink, Not Mink" ad. And in a PETA Files exclusive interview, the soulful singer opens up about his lifelong love of animals, explains how an animal is killed for every piece of fur that is produced, and even serenades us with an impromptu tune:
Follow Mario's melodious lead by pledging to be fur-free forever.
If only I owned a car, I could steer clear of crowded subway platforms and, more importantly, rationalize spending so much time watching videos at CompareTheMeerkat.com, part of a genius ad campaign by U.K. auto insurance company BGL Group. I'm not alone in my adoration: The ads have garnered tons of fans since debuting in January, and PETA U.K. has just awarded BGL and the ads' creator, VCCP, the GOODY Award for Best Ad of 2009.
Rather than exploiting animals or risking harm to them, the hilarious ad campaign uses computer-generated imagery to portray Aleksandr Orlov, a debonair meerkat who has grown increasingly frustrated that people looking for BGL's Web site, CompareTheMarket.com, keep landing on his site, CompareTheMeerkat.com, by mistake.
PETA U.K. applauds BGL's ad campaign because it uses creative alternatives to live animals, who often suffer from confusion and fear and are put at risk of injury when they are exploited on film sets. Animals used by the entertainment industry are often subjected to rigorous and abusive handling and training methods—including electric shocks—to force them to perform tricks that are confusing and often frightening to them.
On the flip side (and coming soon): the naming of the recipient(s) of the BADDY Awards, which are given to companies that feature ads that disrespect or risk harm to animals. Which company would you nominate for a BADDY?
If you're left scratching your head after reading this blog's title, allow me to translate: That friendly greeting is Kiswahili for "What's the news?" The response, "Ujima," is today's Kwanzaa value.
Kwanzaa is celebrated for seven days during the week between Christmas and New Year's. Each day is marked by a do-gooding ideal called by its Kiswahili name. Today is day three, Ujima, which means collective work and responsibility. (Saturday and Sunday were Unity and Self-Determination, marked by the "unifying determination" of my family to nab the last bit of Grandma's famous holiday sweet potatoes!) The idea of Ujima is to take on the problems of our neighbors and work together to solve them. In the spirit of this lovely holiday, we thought it apropos to focus on how to help those who can't help themselves.
Please be encouraged to take action anytime you see an animal in distress. Volunteer at your local animal shelter to give animals in need a bit of holiday cheer, or call the authorities about that dog in your neighborhood who is chained outside without proper shelter in this unforgiving weather. And of course, always remember to make sure that the animal companions you're lucky enough to share your home with are given proper care and all the cuddles they can handle!
Another Kwanzaa tradition is to pay respect to someone of African heritage who has contributed something significant to society. Today, I choose the generous Richard Pryor for his unending efforts to stop the abuse of animals. Who do you pick?
Joyous Kwanzaa everyone!
Written by Missy Lane
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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