Some folks made Christmas merry, while others are in need of making some serious New Year's resolutions to shape up:

• Kisses to hip international clothier Mango. The retailer will no longer sell fur or exotic-animal skins.
• Hisses to Essence magazine for featuring real animal pelts alongside their far more attractive—and humane—faux counterparts in a gallery of "opulent furs."
• Kisses to the Pacific Islands Conservation Initiative for working to designate the waters surrounding the Cook Islands as a sanctuary where sharks won't have their fins cut off for soup.
• Hisses to San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini for sending disturbing Christmas cards showing his family standing alongside taxidermied animals.
• Kisses to the Seattle City Council for protecting animals in Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean by banning plastic bags from groceries and other retail stores, which can kill birds, turtles, and other marine animals when the bags wash into the water and animals ingest them or become entangled in them.
• Hisses to forever flip-flopping Drew Barrymore for betraying animals by ditching her vegetarian diet to please her boyfriend.
• Kisses to Israel for making cat declawing a crime punishable by up to one year in prison and a $20,000 fine.
• Hisses and gag reflexes to Wendy's for adding a $16 foie gras burger to the menu in its Japanese restaurants.

Pamela Anderson was in Tel Aviv this week to shoot a lingerie ad, and, of course, being Pam, she just had to squeeze in some animal rights activism while she was there. Mobbed by reporters and paparazzi, she led a demonstration outside a local vegetarian restaurant to remind people that eating meat is murder on animals and to hand out Hebrew copies of her pro-veg ad for PETA. 

Pam told the media swarm, "It's easier than ever to live without killing animals for food or clothing."

She also talked with political leaders and reporters about a bill calling for a ban on fur in Israel. Mitzi Ocean, a member of Israel's International Anti-Fur Coalition, thought Pam's actions on behalf of animals were heavenly. "I think it's beautiful – we need more angels," she said.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Pamela Anderson is appearing on the Israeli version of Dancing With the Stars this season, and she never misses a step when it comes to speaking up for animals. This week, Pamela sent an impassioned letter to Israeli Minister of Religious Services Yakov Margi urging him to support a bill that would ban (!) the fur trade in Israel. Pamela joins compassionate reggae singer Matisyahu, who sent a letter to the Israeli government earlier this year in support of the ban. Sir Paul McCartney, Brigitte Bardot, and several members of the British Parliament have also spoken out in favor of the bill.

Writes Pamela, "After watching just a few moments of this PETA video, surely you will agree that the ways in which animals suffer and die in the fur trade violate Jewish principles, which strictly prohibit causing unnecessary suffering to animals." Israel's largest newspaper reported on Pamela's letter (on the back page, which is the section that most Israelis read first), informing thousands of readers that animals are bludgeoned, electrocuted, and skinned alive for their pelts. Let's hope that Minister Margi takes Pamela's advice and votes to make Israel the first country to prohibit the production, sale, and importation of all fur products!

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

What do reggae star Matisyahu, the Israeli government, and fur have in common? The compassionate Jewish singer, who recently became vegan because of his disgust toward factory farms and to strictly adhere to Torah principles, has written a heartfelt letter on behalf of PETA to Israeli government leaders urging them to support a bill currently in the Knesset that would ban the fur trade in Israel. If the bill passes, Israel would be the first country to prohibit the production, sale, and importation of all fur products (with the exception of shtreimels, traditional fur hats worn by some Hasidim).

Matisyahu rightfully points out that stomping, beating, and bludgeoning animals violates the fundamental principle of tza'ar ba'alei chayim, which forbids gratuitous cruelty to animals.

In light of our recent undercover video about Chinese fur farms, it's time right now for governments and the public to turn their backs on fur.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

PETA's recent undercover investigation of the largest slaughterhouse in Uruguay exposed that the facility was using the primitive and cruel "shackle and hoist" method for kosher slaughter.

This slaughterhouse is the largest foreign supplier of kosher meat to the U.S. and a major kosher meat exporter to Israel. Thanks to the PETA investigation, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has just announced that by 2011 it will no longer certify meat as kosher if it's from a slaughterhouse that use "shackle and hoist"—that's about 80 percent of the meat imported into Israel, so we're not talking small potatoes!

This is a great step. Of course, the only way to know for sure that you are not supporting slaughterhouse cruelty is to go vegan. Plant-based foods are naturally kosher, and a vegan diet is in keeping with Jewish laws mandating that animals be treated with compassion and respect.

Written by Heather Moore

It's been a whirlwind week for PETA's seal. To keep pressure on Canada to stop letting people shoot baby seals and bash their heads in, PETA's sombrero-sporting seal followed Mexican President Felipe Calderón around to all his stops during his visit to Canada on Thursday.

President Calderón's visit received tons of media attention, and PETA's seal even got a shout-out from Canwest News Service. The seal almost got to shake hands—er, flippers—with President Calderón, but I'm sure that the seal would have preferred to give him a hug, considering that Mexico banned seal imports years ago.

On Monday, PETA's seal was back in action—this time wearing a yarmulke—while tailing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Canada.

What hat will PETA's seal wear next? Stay tuned for updates. And in the meantime, why not let Canadian officials know that the cruel seal slaughter makes you want to blow your top.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Tel Aviv has become the first city in Israel to prohibit horse-drawn carriages, thanks largely to years of tireless campaigning by Concern for Helping Animals in Israel (CHAI) and its sister organization, Hakol Chai. Their efforts included organizing international letter-writing campaigns, educational presentations in schools, a benefit concert, and a rousing demonstration outside City Hall.

Because CHAI and Hakol Chai were determined to make a difference, exhausted, sick, and injured horses and donkeys will no longer be beaten and whipped by metal and junk peddlers who force them to pull huge, heavy carriages in dangerous, busy traffic in Tel Aviv.

blogs.bootsnall / CC

This success story has inspired me to try to score a similar victory for exhausted, abused horses closer to home, so I've added, "Write to New York City councilmembers—again—re horse-drawn carriages," to the top of my to-do list. Won't you do the same?

Written by Karin Bennett

smh.com.au / CC

Some celebrities make animal-friendly demands when they're on tour, but Madonna isn't one of them.

We already knew the Material Girl was a fur hag. Now, she's added to her animal-unfriendly rep by purchasing 110 pounds of kosher meat for the last two performances of her "Sticky and Sweet" tour in Tel Aviv.

We immediately sent her a letter explaining that most imported kosher beef sold in Israel comes from Uruguay, where cattle are often shackled and violently wrestled to the ground before having their throats cut and being hoisted into the air by their hind legs—a cruel "shackle and hoist" slaughter method that the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has called "primitive" and has promised to phase out.

Instead of ordering her weight in meat, Madge would win over more fans if she gave a compassionate diet a try.

Written by Amanda Schinke

Tourists are flocking to Kiryat Yam, Israel, in hopes of spotting a mermaid who has reportedly been seen frolicking during sunset swims, and the Town Council is offering a $1 million reward for anyone who can provide a photograph that proves Ariel's kin are kicking back on local beaches.

If it's a photo of a mermaid they want, we'd be happy to oblige. We're offering to run our stunning "Make a Splash—Go Vegetarian" ad, which makes the case that, like mermaids, fish sea kittens, lobsters, crabs, and other animals of the sea deserve to be treated with compassion and respect.

If you would shun a plate of poached mermaid, why not let Nemo and his buddies off the hook too?

Written by Alisa Mullins

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ignited controversy when he made a speech in which he ostensibly endorsed Palestinian statehood. Unfortunately, the speech didn't go over so well with the Palestinians, who decried it as an empty offer because of the strings he attached to his endorsement.

While Palestinians and Israelis can't seem to agree on where to draw the (geographic) line, we thought the time had come to remind them that there's one thing we can all agree on: Cruelty sucks.

That's why we're bringing back our "Give Peas a Chance" ad, which we had previously proposed placing along both sides of the barriers that run through the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This time, we've turned it into a billboard that we will be trying to place throughout the region.

Wish us luck! After all, hummus is a universal symbol of peace, right? No? Hmmm, I could swear I read that somewhere.

Written by Alisa Mullins